Louisiana angler recalls close brush with death
Five good friends. Three boats. A lake full of bass and three full days to catch 'em.
Like the rest of his buddies, Dale Nash of Many, La., was pumped about the prospects of their recent fishing trip on Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Then the storm cloud rolled in and spoiled it all.
Today, Nash considers himself a lucky man. No. Make that a blessed man.
The 58-year-old survived what may be life's ultimate wake-up call, being struck by lightning during the fishing trip and walking away to tell about it.
"I don't remember much about what happened, just what my friends have told me," Nash said. "It is by the grace of God that I am still here. That's all there is to it."
The event unfolded shortly before noon April 18 as Nash and a group of close friends fished for bass north of the powerline crossing in the Attoyac River arm of Sam Rayburn.
Nash and Tommy Young, also of Many, were in Nash's Z22 Ranger. Fishing alone in another boat about 60 yards away was Eddie Gongre, while Bill Domingue and Troy Tate were in a third boat about a 400 yards away.
The group, all from Louisiana, were competing in the 25th Anniversary McDonald's Big Bass Splash, a three-day amateur fishing tournament that drew a record 7,551 contestants who competed for $1 million in cash and prizes this year.
With rain and possible thunderstorms in the forecast, Nash and his friends elected to fish relatively close together near the Jackson Hill Marina boat ramp, just in case things got nasty. Nash said a light rain began to fall about 11:30 a.m. and thunder was rumbling in the distance.
"It sounded like it was miles away, and I really didn't think much about it because I hadn't seen any lightning," he said. "Anytime I see lightning I get off the water immediately. I've fished in the rain a bunch of times, so I just put my rainsuit on and kept on fishing."
The last thing Nash remembers before the lightning hit was casting a Yamamoto Senko and letting it sink on a shallow flat.
The next thing he remembers was lying flat of his back in Domingue's boat, semiconscious and only partially clothed. His body ached as if he'd been in a brawl with a rodeo bull -- and lost.
"It felt like somebody had beat me up with a 2X4," Nash says. "I told Bill my body was hurting all over. He told me that was good, because it meant I was still alive."
Nash, who was not wearing a lifejacket, has Gongre to partially thank for being alive. Gongre, 52, said he was fishing behind Nash when he heard the violent clap.
"When I looked up, I saw Dale get blown out of the boat," he said. "It was just a blur of red. His rain suit and other clothes were going everywhere. By the time I got there, Dale had regained consciousness and was on his side, about 10 feet from his boat."
Gongre jumped in the lake, kept Nash afloat and waited for Domingue and Tate to arrive. Together the men pulled their friend to safety. Two other anglers who were in the area phoned 911, while Domingue and Tate raced Nash to the boat ramp.
"What was really strange about the whole deal is that none of us were together the day before. We were all fishing miles apart," Gongre said. "If that had been the case when Dale got hit, he probably wouldn't be here today. Nobody would have been there to save him. I don't think Tommy could have gotten to him."
Emergency medical personnel rushed Nash to Memorial Medical Center in San Augustine, then transferred him to the LSU Medical Center/Burn Center in Shreveport, La. He spent one day in intensive care and three more days being treated for first- and second-degree burns on his arms, back and legs.
Physicians also monitored his heart closely for cardiac arrest and other potential problems. He said doctors released him last week with a clean bill of health, but his wounds are still healing.
"My wife has to take the dressing off the burns, scrub them and then redress them each day," Nash said. "It's pretty painful. It's like going to a torture chamber every day."
Not surprisingly, the more Nash learns about the incident, the more he realizes how lucky he is to be alive.
The typical lightning bolt contains 100,000 to 1 billion volts and between 10,000 and 200,000 amperes of current. That's more than enough current to kill a man. In fact, doctors told Nash that his heart had probably already quit beating before he hit the cool water.
"They said the water probably shocked my heart back to beating," he said. "That's part of what saved me."
Domingue told Nash the 100 MPH rain suit and other clothing he was wearing looked like confetti strewn around the boat and water.
"It basically disintegrated everything I had on," Nash said. "The only thing left on me was the belt band of my bluejeans, a portion of my zipper, one hip pocket that still had my billfold in it and the waterproof booties I wear when it rains."
Interestingly, Gongre said he did not feel any impact from the lightning bolt, yet it knocked a fishing rod out of Troy Tate's hands.
"And they were 200 yards away," Gongre said. "Troy said he actually saw the lightning shooting out across the water after it hit Dale."
Nash's boat and fishing gear sustained some serious damage. His foot was on the trolling motor pedal when the lightning hit, which caused the head on the control unit to explode as the current made its exit.
Nash said there are five holes on the side of the boat just above the water line, where the lightning either burned through or blew out the fiberglass. The powerful current fried both of his electronic fish finders, the boat's wiring system and the computer in the 300 horsepower Mercury outboard motor. It also blew the glass facings off some of the cockpit gauges and welded the pedestal of the butt seat to the floor.
"They said the boat was still smouldering three hours after it happened," Nash said. "How I lived through that I do not know. I guess God has other plans for me. It just wasn't my time to go."
Not everyone is so lucky.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates there are 200 deaths and 750 severe injuries from lightning each year in the United States. There were 25 people killed by lightning in Texas between 1997 and 2006.
About one out of every five lightning-strike victims die and 70 percent of the survivors suffer serious long-term effects. The odds of a person becoming a lightning victim this year are about 1 in 700,000. The odds of being struck in your lifetime is 1 is 3,000, according to National Geographic News.
Who is most at risk?
Lightning can strike anywhere when the conditions are right. Outdoor workers or those who engage regularly in outdoor recreational activities like boating, fishing, hunting, golfing, jogging, hiking and so on are certainly at high risk.
The best way for boaters and fishermen to avoid lightning strikes is to stay off the water whenever foul weather is in the forecast. If you get caught on the water in nasty weather, the wise move is obviously to get off the water and seek shelter as quickly as possible.
Where there is thunder, there is always lightning. If you can see lightning, the storm cloud producing it is likely within 15-20 miles of your location.
The best way to calculate the distance between you and lightning is to rely on the flash-bang theory. When you see lightning, count the seconds until you hear the thunder. Every five seconds equals one mile. Lightning can strike objects farther than 10 miles from the epicenter of a storm, so the sooner you seek shelter, the better.
Nash said his wife, Phyllis, did some checking and confirmed that the lightning bolt that hit him was the first strike recorded in the area that morning.
"I'm one of the most cautious people you will ever meet when it comes to lightning," Nash said. "If we had seen the first pop of lightning, we all would have been out of there. Unfortunately, I didn't get that opportunity. The first one got me."
Matt Williams' e-mail address is mattwilliams@netdot.com.
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