Eric Baumgartner (Lightning strike victim) &Family

Eric Baumgartner was at work Wednesday 6/14/2023 painting lines for the soccer field at Iselin Middle School. When a storm viciously came through. Eric did not hear or see anything from the loud noise of the machine he was using when at that very moment the lightening strike came down upon Eric.  Eric was unresponsive & had no pulse when Officer RJ McPartland arrived CPR was administered. Once the ambulance arrived they where able to revive Eric where he started to regain consciousness on scene. Eric was clearly confused and not sure what happened to him. In Eric’s words tonight he stated “ he thought he was dying because he didn’t know why he was in an ambulance with the pain he was in”. Eric was transported to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick where they assessed him & then from there transported to St Barnabas Hospital in Livingston,NJ to the burn center. Eric has been accompanied by his wife Anita Baumgartner every step of the way since arrival at RWJUH to St Barnabas where she will remain by his side.  The lightening strike struck him on his right foot where there is an entrance hole on the top of his foot from the strike. Both feet are extremely burnt along with other parts of his body from torso down. They cannot tell what degree burns he has just yet because of the severity of the electricity burns. Eric will remain in St Barnabas where he will be continuously monitored . Eric and Anita have been married for 9 years and just celebrated their wedding anniversary two weeks ago. They have 2 beautiful sons ages 8 & 3. Eric is an extremely proud and active dad with his two boys as they share many bonding days as his oldest son is in Cub Scouts, Baseball, Swim lessons, going to car shows together & so much more .Eric is an 18-year veteran of the Woodbridge DPW and Parks Division. Eric is also a proud Veteran with the US Coast Guard. This Go Fund me is for home Bills & Groceries while Eric will be out of work for a while recovering from this horrific incident. We are trying to help our Brother in-law , Sister Anita and their two boys have less stress during his time of recovery and not have to stress as much knowing how to pay for food on the table and pay for bills during this crucial recovery time. Our entire family on Anita’s side want to thank everyone for their kind words, well wishes, concerns and help while we all try to get Eric back to his normal self for him and his loving family.  Thank you to Officer McPartland from the bottom of our hearts for being so quick responding to the scene and saving our loving brother in-law who none of us can even imagine life without Eric.