Family, Friends Surround Man Struck by Lightning in Brainerd

Family and friends of a young Minnesota man struck by lightning last week say he is a strong enough to pull through.

23-year-old Jamie Harris from Madelia was hit by lightning while riding an ATV Wednesday night in the camping area at Brainerd International Raceway.

The lightning bolt struck him in the head and went out under his armpit. It then traveled through the four-wheeler and into the ground.

"You always hear about the phone call you'd never want to receive. Boy I got it, and I didn't want it," said John Harris, Jamie's father.

An emergency medical technician who was nearby found Harris and performed CPR. Harris was then air-lifted to Hennepin County Medical Center where he is being treated for burns and brain trauma.
   
"I'm the one that's supposed to be laying there, not him, not him," John Harris said.

"If any other tragedies happen around town, he's always going to the benefits and stuff like that, and buying the merchandise and helping the other people out. He's just a really giving person, and a strong person," said Justin Henry, Jamie's friend.

Funds were collected for Harris at the raceway campgrounds over the weekend. Friends are planning a benefit for him this October in Madelia. 

"My hopes and dreams are that he comes back the way he was,  I really think he's going to," John Harris said.

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