More than a dozen 911 calls made after deadly lightning strike at Fort Myers Beach

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK)—A 51-year-old man died after being struck by lightning in the Gulf of Mexico while with his wife, daughter and son-in-law.

WINK News obtained nearly 30 minutes of 911 calls that captured the desperate moments when bystanders tried to save Viktar Kiryk's life. More than a dozen people called 911 after the lightning strike.

"We have a person struck by lightning out on the beach," one caller said.

The recordings reveal the moment people pulled Kiryk out of the water and started CPR. A 911 dispatcher calmly gave instructions as people performed chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing.

"Everyone listen very carefully to me. Make sure he is flat on his back and remove anything under his head," the 911 operator said.

Katie Abdalla, a Maryland paramedic on vacation, ran over to start CPR.

"He had a pretty good, like, burn mark from, like, his shoulder down his chest," Abdalla said. "We had plenty of hands to help."

What they did not have was a detectable heart rhythm for the defibrillator. Firefighters pronounced Kiryk dead at the scene.

"He…He's definitely DOA…I'm telling you this….He's DOA," a caller said.

"Okay, well, we're still going to try," the operator responded.

Danielle Sturgill knows the dangers of lightning all too well. One year ago, Sturgill and her friends were visiting Marco Island when storms rolled in and they ran to a tiki hut for cover.

The video shows lightning directly striking the hut.

"A very heavy pressure on the top of my head, and then I was totally unconscious," Sturgill said.

Sturgill and her friends survived but still carry scars, both physical and mental.

"Trauma, of course, I definitely do not take a storm lightly at all," Sturgill said. "Don't think it can't happen to you."