Lightning Strike Kills One, Injures Another
While first responders had just just left in a boat, an injured Clay Davis emerged from the woods and swam across a channel for help. He had been struck by lightning almost an hour and half earlier. Davis and Donna Hendrix were looking for arrowheads near Bryant Boat Landing when the strike occurred, killing Hendrix. Coming to assist Davis were Grenada Lake ranger Nick Liolios and Yalobusha EMT Corrie Bennett. – Photo by David Howell
Donna Hendrix
Lightning Strike Kills One, Injures Another
By David Howell
Editor
BRYANT – A fifty-one year-old woman was killed around noon Friday after she was struck by lightning near Bryant Boat Landing at Grenada Lake. Donna Hendrix and Clay Davis were wading along the lake’s shore north of the boat ramp looking for arrowheads when a strong storm blew up, according to information gathered at the scene.
Hendrix was killed and Davis, of Coffee-ville, was injured, but was able to dial 911 and talk to dispatchers on his cell phone. He told authorities the blow had knocked him out and it may have been as much as an hour before he regained consciousness. After multiple conversations, he was able to direct law enforcement officers to his location.
Deputy Jim Bailey was in the vicinity when the call came in and was the first person on the scene. Bailey and Chief Deputy Jerry Ferguson reported they thought they could hear Davis hollering. With the arrival of a boat still at least 30 minutes away, Bailey swam across a channel north of the boat ramp and waded around the point, walking almost to Turkey Creek to get to Hendrix.
“I was hoping I could get to her and start CPR but it was too late by the time I got there,” Bailey told the Herald after the incident. The deputy said he first encountered Davis, who had already started walking back to the boat ramp. Davis was able to walk back to where other responders were staged near the boat ramp and was transported the remaining 200 yards to an awaiting ambulance. He was transported to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford.
Bailey remained with the body, which was recovered around 3 p.m. in a joint operation with U.S. Corps of Engineers rangers and deputies. Yalobusha sheriff’s investigator Jerimaine Gooch and deputy coroner Debbie Jackson were transported to the scene as part of what Sheriff Lance Humphreys described as a routine investigation.
“This was a freak accident, but in an abundance of caution we conducted a thorough investigation,” Humphreys told the Herald. Coroner Ronnie Stark said an autopsy was performed Saturday.
Funeral services for Hendrix are scheduled Wednesday at Memorial Funeral Home in Houston (see obituary, Page 7).
On Saturday, Davis’ niece posted on Facebook that he was in the intensive care unit, but was stable. She also posted that he was not burned, but his body was extremely sore. Davis was released Sunday.
Hendrix is the third person in Mississippi killed by lightning this year, according to statistics provided by the National Weather Service. On April 27, Tim Edge was killed in Mantachie while riding a horse and Thomas Worton III was killed in Lumberton while standing in his yard on June 27.
Nationally, Hendrix is the 32nd person to be killed by lightning this year, according to the same website.
