A Northern Ireland teenager struck by lightning at a US golf tournament was “knocked out cold”, his dad says.
Ryan Murphy, 19, was one of six people hurt when the incident happened in Atlanta on Saturday.
Terry Murphy, from Cookstown, Co Tyrone said his son Ryan had been following Rory McIlroy at the event when the “freak” incident occurred.
Mr Murphy said his son was “bruised and shaken” but hoping to fly home later this week. The people hurt were sheltering beneath a tree when the lightning struck. Video footage shared on social media shows the lightning strike hit the tree before a cloud of smoke goes up.
Mr Murphy told the BBC he and his son had been texting each other throughout Saturday, with Ryan providing running commentary of the Tour Championship.
Both are members of Killymoon Golf Club in Cookstown and Ryan had gone to Georgia in the hope of seeing a McIlroy victory.
Mr Murphy said: “I was asking what he was wearing to see if I could see him on the TV.”
Ryan’s last text was about play being suspended because of storms and then when news broke about the lightning strike, Mr Murphy said he just knew something was wrong.
He said: “I just felt it in my gut so I tried to call him.”
Mr Murphy said that when they got no response family members started calling around hospitals. They had to wait 45 minutes before Ryan answered the phone.
His father says: “I heard the beeping of machines and I knew it was medical. The first thing he said to me was ‘Don’t say anything to mummy’.”
Ryan told his father he had been sheltering under a tree when the lightning struck and all he could remember was waking up “yards away” with the emergency services all around him.
Mr Murphy said: “He’s had scans just to make sure there is no internal damage.”
Ryan was back in his hotel by Sunday afternoon and is hoping to fly home to Northern Ireland on Tuesday.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said it was “aware of the case” and was providing “consular assistance”.
Five other people were injured after the lightning struck a tree close to the 15th green at East Lake Golf Club.
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