SEASIDE PARK, NJ – A man lost his life after being struck by lightning at a beach on Sunday as he attempted to warn others about an impending thunderstorm. Patrick Dispoto, 59, and his girlfriend, Ruth Fussell, were at Seaside Park Beach when they noticed an approaching storm. Fussell states that while she waited in the truck, Dispoto went back to the beach to warn other people.
He didn’t return and did not answer her phone calls, which led Fussell to search for him. She found him unconscious on the beach. Emergency responders attempted CPR, but Dispoto was later pronounced dead at the hospital. Seaside Park Police Sgt. Andrew Casole confirmed that the cause of death was an “accidental death caused by a lightning strike.”
In an ironic twist, Seaside Park had recently invested nearly $50,000 in purchasing the Strike Guard Lightning Detection System. The system was installed on Wednesday, only days after Dispoto’s death.
Seaside Park Borough Administrator Karen Kroon emphasized that the installation was not a response to Sunday’s tragic incident. “The Borough made that investment because public safety is extremely important and we want to do everything we can to alert our residents and visitors to imminent danger,” Kroon explained.
Reflecting on the incident, Fussell described Dispoto as a person who never hesitated to help others. According to the National Lightning Safety Council, Dispoto is the third person to die from a lightning strike in the United States this year, and the first in New Jersey since a lifeguard was killed in a similar incident at a South Seaside Park beach in 2021.