Lightning Victim, a Lifeguard, on the Road to Recovery

A 56-year-old lifeguard hospitalized after lightning struck the water near the Venice pier Sunday, killing a 20-year-old man, was improving at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center today.

The lifeguard, whose name was withheld, was taken to the hospital in what Los Angeles firefighters termed critical condition. Today, his condition was fair, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe said the lifeguard had 35 years with the county fire department, its parent agency, and was “making a good recovery.”

Nick Fagnano was not so lucky. He died of injuries suffered about 2:20 p.m. when bolt of lightning electrified the water. A vigil is set for 7 tonight at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 10800 Moorpark St., in North Hollywood.

According to the National Weather Service, Fagnano became the 16th person killed by lightning strikes this year.

Seven adults and a 15-year-old boy were hospitalized in the wake of the thunderstorm, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Friends said Fagnano was about the leave the beach but decided to go back into the water just before the strike. Firefighters said he was in grave condition when pulled from the surf.

“The guy wasn’t moving. He wasn’t responding at all,” beachgoer Jesus Zamudio told the Los Angeles Times.

Fagnano, who worked at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, was a graduate of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, where he was pitcher on the baseball team. He planned to enter USC’s Price School of Public Policy as a junior.

“There was so much commotion when the lightning struck on the beach, he was not one of those recovered in the first response,” Fagnano’s mother, Mary, told the Daily News. “His friends were looking frantically for him, couldn’t find him. Half an hour after lightning struck, his body was found about 50 feet out.”

The six people, including the 15-year-old, who were hospitalized in fair condition were expected to fully recover, fire officials said.

--City News Service

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