Overview
- Responders found a husband and wife collapsed on the West Orange Trail Wednesday evening and began CPR on one unresponsive victim before transporting both to Orlando Regional Medical Center as trauma alerts.
- FOX 35 Storm Tracker radar recorded a lightning discharge near the trail at about 7:13 p.m., a detail officials say is being checked as part of the investigation.
- Winter Garden Fire Chief José P. Gainza Jr. described the call as a 'possible patient struck by lightning,' but officials have not confirmed a direct strike and the cause remains under review.
- A 911 caller told dispatchers the couple collapsed after lightning hit their umbrella or a nearby area, and dispatchers guided chest compressions until first responders arrived.
- Authorities are still gathering medical updates and scene evidence, and the National Weather Service warned that hearing thunder means you are close enough to be struck by lightning.