Lightning Strucker sues

STONINGTON, Conn. -- A North Stonington man who was struck by lightning and mistakenly declared dead by emergency medical technicians is suing, claiming that lack of treatment at the scene left him with brain damage.

On May 31, 2005, Kevin Crandall, a mason and blues musicians, was struck by lightning while building a stone wall. Emergency medical technicians from the Stonington Volunteer Ambulance Corps determined Crandall was dead and covered him with a blanket and did not try to resuscitate him.

However, minutes later, police Sgt. Keith Beebe leaned over Crandall and noticed he was still alive. Crandall was then rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Crandall suffers from memory loss, can only work part time and is struggling to sing and play the harmonica again, according to his attorney, Stephen Reck.

Reck Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the ambulance corps, its president, Victor Lima, Iona Lyons, an emergency medical technician, and the town, saying their actions resulted in Crandall suffering brain damage because of a lack of oxygen.

Both Lima and Lyons agreed to be placed on a year's probation and undergo retraining after the state Department of Public Health investigated the incident and found they "failed to conduct a proper patient assessment" and "failed to recognize the patient was actually alive."