ALEXANDRIA BAY, N.Y. -- Workers at FX Caprara Dodge in Alexandria Bay are sending good thoughts to a fellow worker after he was struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon. 21-year-old mechanic Dylan Nichols was apparently sitting by an open garage door when it happened.
"It just kind of hit the door case and lit him up. It was kind of like a cartoon kind of thing," said Raymond Lear, the parts manager at the dealership. "I was across the garage and he was down by the door, really calm. It was raining and he was calm. We were just sitting there watching the rain basically. It was almost lunchtime and then right out the blue, lighting just strikes right in the doorway."
Lear says at first, Nichols seemed OK, but then he was on ground stumbling and grabbing his chest. Employees then called 911 and emergency personnel arrived around 12:30 p.m. He was transported to River Hospital for evaluation. Emergency officials say Nichols complained about a headache and shoulder pain on his right arm, but was coherent.
"When we got there, the patient was sitting at a table kind of shaken up, head down. He was visibly shaken," said Walter Dingman, Alexandria Bay second assistant fire chief. "He got in the ambulance stretcher on his own and he got off it at the hospital and into the hospital bed on his own."
Nichols wasn't away for too long though. Around 3:00 p.m he came back to the garage with family members, talked with some fellow workers, and picked up his car. He didn't want to speak on camera, but said he felt very sore and the hospital told him to get plenty of rest.
Workers are hoping he recovers quickly.