Woodbridge DPW Worker Struck By Lightning Transferred To St. Barnabas

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — This GoFundMe page has now been created for the Woodbridge Department of Public Works employee who was struck by lightning Wednesday.

Eric Baumgartner "is expected to make a full recovery," the fundraising page reads.

However, as of Thursday, Baumgartner, 39, has been transferred to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, according to his family. St. Barnabas is the premier burn-unit treatment center in the entire state, and Baumgartner is "extremely burnt" on various parts of his body from the torso down, his family shared.

There is also a hole in his foot where the lightning struck him, they said.

He is in stable condition Thursday, said Woodbridge Mayor John McCormac.

The page was created by Baumgartner's sister-in-law, to help the family with medical expenses.

"Eric and Anita have been married for nine years and just celebrated their wedding anniversary two weeks ago. They have two beautiful sons," the fundraiser states. "Eric did not hear or see anything from the loud noise of the machine he was using when at that very moment the lightning strike came down."

It was 12:21 p.m. Wednesday and was Baumgartner was painting lines on the soccer field at Iselin Middle School. He and two other employees were quickly trying to complete the job before the rain arrived, said the town's DPW Director George Brew.

"They were using some kind of metal machinery to paint the lines, and he was struck," said Mayor McCormac. "He had burns on his foot and other parts of his body."

Baumgartner was knocked unconscious by the lightning strike and had no pulse. Officials say the only reason he survived is because Woodbridge Police Officer Robert "RJ" McPartland was one minute away, and raced to the scene, where he immediately began CPR and mouth-to-mouth breathing. McPartland is a trained EMT in addition to being a police officer.

"That officer saved his life," McCormac said Wednesday, sounding near tears in a phone interview. Officer McPartland was praised by the media in a press conference Wednesday; watch below.

The police officer got Baumgartner's pulse back, and he slowly started to regain consciousness once he was in the ambulance headed to Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Center in New Brunswick, the first hospital he was treated at.

"Eric was clearly confused and not sure what happened to him," wrote his sister in law. "In Eric’s words tonight he stated he 'thought he was dying because he didn’t know why he was in an ambulance with the pain he was in.'

"Eric was transported to St. Barnabas to the burn center," read the page. "Eric has been accompanied by his wife Anita Baumgartner every step of the way since arrival at RWJUH to St. Barnabas where she will remain by his side. The lightening (sic) strike struck him on his right foot, where there is an entrance hole on the top of his foot from the strike. Both feet are extremely burnt along with other parts of his body from torso down. They cannot tell what degree burns he has just yet because of the severity of the electricity burns."

Eric will remain in St. Barnabas where he will be continuously monitored, according to his family.

Baumgartner worked for the Woodbridge DPW and Parks Division for 18 years, and is also a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. If you would like to donate to the family, you can do so here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/eri... The page has been verified by GoFundMe.

"This Go Fund Me is for home bills and groceries while Eric will be out of work for a while recovering from this horrific incident. We are trying to help our brother in-law, sister Anita and their two boys have less stress during his time of recovery and not have to stress as much knowing how to pay for food on the table and pay for bills during this crucial recovery time," wrote the family.

The family also thanked the Woodbridge police officer who is widely credited with saving his life.

"Thank you to Officer McPartland from the bottom of our hearts for being so quick responding to the scene and saving our loving brother in-law ... none of us can even imagine life without Eric."

The strike was captured on doorbell camera by a local Woodbridge resident, who shared it with NBC.

From Wednesday's press conference in Woodbridge; Officer McPartland who saved his life is in the center, addressing the media:

Initial Patch report: Woodbridge DPW Worker Struck By Lightning On Soccer Field (June 14)