KITTY HAWK, N.C. — Authorities said a 23-year-old Columbia University student was fatally struck by lightning while swimming off the coast of North Carolina.
The police department of Kitty Hawk said Matt Summerill, of Northern Virginia, was hit by lightning late last month. It's unclear exactly when he died.
[‘It was crazy’: Lightning bolt nearly strikes South Carolina man]
A medical examiner's office recently released his cause of death, which is listed as complications from drowning due to collapsing into the ocean after being hit by lightning.
Police said Summerill had been hospitalized in Nags Head.
A crowdfunding page set up to help cover Summerill's medical expenses said he was later hospitalized in Greenville and put into a medically induced coma.
Summerill's family, friends and the crowdfunding page organizer did not respond to The Virginian-Pilot 's requests to comment.
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Associated Press
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