Sports

Lightning Strikes 2 Men, 6 Horses At NJ Polo Match

Survivor Stephen Conroy Tells CBS 2 HD Of Seeing Animals 'All Upside Down And On Top Of Each Other'

Amazingly, Despite Being Knocked Unconscious, All Survived

FREEHOLD, N.J. (CBS) ― It's an incredible story of luck and survival. Lightning recently struck a polo match, knocking two men and six horses unconscious.

CBS 2 HD spoke with one of the survivors from his hospital bed.

"It hit and I remember it going through me," Stephen Conroy said of the lightning bolt.

Conroy still can't believe he is alive to tell his terrifying story.

"It wasn't my time," Conroy said.

Conroy was struck by lightning at a polo match in Colts Neck during Sunday's storm.

"The next thing … I wake up 10 feet away on the ground, face down, with my arm blown up. I thought it was severed because the pain was excruciating," Conroy said.

Believe it or not, except for some bruising at the site where the electricity entered his body, the 49-year-old umpire has no serious injuries. However, he still remembers the panic he felt, laying next to a player who was also hit and surrounded by six prone horses.

"I couldn't stand up so I'm paralyzed for a moment," Conroy said. "So I pull myself from the mud.

"I see all the horses … the six horses … they've all dominoed. They're all knocked unconscious. They're all upside down and on top of each other," Conroy said.

Miraculously, the horses all came to and are fine.

"I'm just happy … to be alive," Conroy said.

In fact, Conroy's doctor told him he cheated death twice.

"You got struck by lightning and you could have been trampled by horses," Conroy said. "Someone is looking out for me."

But the scary ordeal hasn't deterred Conroy from doing what he loves. He'll be umpiring a game this coming weekend.

Conroy said the lesson he learned is to cancel a match the second a thunder cloud moves in.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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