Struck by Lightning: My Story
People ask me about it just about every week at the dock, so I figured it was time to put the whole story down in one place. On the morning of Thursday, August 20, 2026, I was struck by lightning on my boat off Islamorada — and by the grace of God and some quick-thinking people, I’m still here to tell you about it.
In the ICU at HCA Florida Kendall after the airlift.
Just another August morning
It was about 6:00 in the morning and we were heading out from Bud n’ Mary’s with clients aboard, just off Mile Marker 81. August in the Keys means early morning squalls — Capt. Greg Poland told Local 10 the same thing every guide down here knows: those quick rain showers pop up at daybreak this time of year, and you keep an eye on them, but they usually amount to nothing.
To be honest, I don’t really remember a thing… I don’t remember going to the dock in the morning, meeting my customers, getting on the boat, or even eating breakfast! I believe there was some lightning squalls that had gone by and we left the dock after they’d passed to try and get back to Flamingo before more weather came by. We don’t know for sure but we believe lightning hit near the boat and travelled up the motor through the electronic rigging to the steering wheel and knocked me out. My customers were all totally fine and there were no visible burn marks or damage anywhere else on the boat.
The next thing the people on my boat were dealing with was me, down. One of my guests started CPR on me right there on the deck and kept it going until help reached us. I have been a lot of things in my life, but I will never be able to repay what my customers did in those minutes. If you take one thing from this whole post, make it this: learn CPR. It saves lives — it saved mine.
The ride I don’t remember
One of our captains, Capt. Jake Turek, ran the paramedics out to me on the water, and from there I was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami. He was the only other guide fishing that day and someone capable of running a boat full of paramedics and gear right to my location. My boat was dead in the water — the strike fried her — and she got towed back home to Bud n’ Mary’s.
Awake and on oxygen, with visitors at the bedside. My brother and one of the nurses.
I was in a medically induced coma from Thursday evening until Sunday morning. By August 25th I was released and headed home, and the doctors expected a full recovery. For a man who had just taken a lightning strike, I got off about as lucky as a person can get.
Out of the ICU and eating again. Breakfast never tasted so good.
First steps down the hall, with a little help.
The part that humbled me
When I posted about it on our Islamorada Tarpon Fishing Facebook page in September — one picture of me in that hospital bed and one of me back on the water holding a pair of cobia — the response floored me. Thousands of reactions and more than 400 comments: prayers, well wishes, other people’s own lightning stories, and a whole lot of “God is good.” This community — Islamorada, the Keys, and everybody who’s ever fished with us — carried my family through it, and I’ll never forget that.
Some of the team at HCA Florida Kendall who took care of me. I’ll never be able to thank them enough.
The boat came back to life too, eventually. There’s an old saying that the best days of your life are when you buy a boat, when you sell a boat… I’d like to add a third: the day you get your boat back after it’s been struck by lightning. Thanks to Gus Toy Box for getting the boat fixed quickly and Strictly Yamaha for their hard work fixing the motor.
And yes, the jokes started right away — everybody wanted to know what superpowers I got out of the deal. One of my buddies even made me an “artist’s rendering” of my first cobia trip back:
Artist’s rendering, courtesy of A.I.
The Local 10 story
In October, about seven weeks after the strike, Janine Stanwood from Local 10 News came down to the marina and did a follow-up story on the recovery — it aired October 13th. I told her the truth: “Getting struck by lightning was probably about one of the last things I would have thought that happened.” Read it here: Longtime South Florida fishing guide shares recovery story after lightning strike — Local 10 News. You can watch the piece here:
What I do differently now
Thirty years on the water teaches you respect for weather, but I’ll be honest — I respect it more now. A few things every boater down here should live by:
- If you can hear thunder, you are in range. Lightning can strike miles ahead of a storm.
- Get your hands off metal — the wheel, the tower, the outriggers — when a cell is close.
- Don’t wait out a fast-moving squall on open water if you can get in ahead of it.
- Know CPR, and make sure somebody on your boat knows it too.
Back to work
I’m back doing what I’ve always done — putting people on tarpon, snook, and everything else that swims around Islamorada — and I don’t take a single morning of it for granted anymore. If you’ve ever thought about coming down and fishing with us, there’s no time like the present. None of us are promised tomorrow; August 20th taught me that one for good.
Ready to fish? Book your Islamorada tarpon trip with Capt. Rick Stanczyk out of Bud n’ Mary’s Marina — check availability and reserve your date online, or text 305-747-6903.
Capt. Rick Stanczyk
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