19-year-old Tyrone man Ryan Murphy has returned home following Saturday’s incident.
On Saturday, NBC cameras captured the dramatic moment when a bolt of lightning struck a 60-foot pine tree on the East Lake golf course in Atlanta, Georgia.
Six people were injured as a result of the incident, with Tyrone native Ryan Murphy among them.
The 19-year-old student was subsequently hospitalised and had his holiday cut short, but thankfully he hasn’t been left with major long-term damage.
Describing the event on Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1 on Tuesday, Murphy, back in Cookstown, said that he hasn’t really slept since.
“I don’t remember much of when it actually happened,” he began.
“I was walking across to a fan shop and next thing I know, I had fell to the ground. My ears were ringing whenever I woke up and I was surrounded by people and there was ambulances.
“It was just very chaotic,” Murphy added, noting that he was placed in a neck brace and back board and brought immediately to the trauma centre of a nearby hospital.
“Whenever I woke up, I thought I had been unconscious and that I could stand up and walk away but they told me that I had been struck by lightning.
“Once they were putting me in the back board, I realised how serious it was, so I just let them do their job at that point.”
NBC just showed a lightning strike out at the #TOURChampionship at East Lake that injured possibly 4. This is a slow motion shot of their coverage. Wow! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/0Z1ARb6a8q
— Craig Lucie (@CraigLucie) August 24, 2019
Murphy, who was working in Wisconsin as a lifeguard for the summer, spent around seven hours in hospital being monitored, was finally released when he received a CT scan.
Atlanta was the first stop on his holiday before coming home, with Las Vegas and San Francisco lined up before a bolt of lightning put a stop to that.
Home now and in good spirits, Murphy isn’t suffering too many after effects.
“Nothing serious, I haven’t really slept,” he said.
“A few sore heads, but that’s about it.”
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