COLLINS — Storm clouds had given way to sunshine Thursday afternoon when out of the blue, a bolt of lightning burst from the sky, knocking Ken and Debra Meltzer to the ground.

Ken Meltzer survived the strike, but it killed his 51-year-old wife, who grew up in Elyria.

The couple had been walking in the yard of their Huron County home when the bolt struck, Debra Meltzer’s father, Hagis Tuttle of Wakeman, said.

“The sun was shining, and it had quit raining. Lightning hit and knocked them both out. When my son-in-law came to, he wasn’t hurt that bad,” he said.

Tuttle said the freak event happened about 3:30 p.m. as the couple walked in their open yard that is surrounded by large trees.

When Ken Meltzer came to, he tried to revive his wife with CPR.

Huron County Coroner Jeff Harwood said the lightning had stopped her heart.

She was rushed by ambulance to Fisher-Titus Medical Center, where doctors were able to get her pulse going — but, Harwood said, she was in a coma. Her brain had been deprived of oxygen long enough to cause severe damage.

Debra Meltzer had not awoken from her coma about midnight when her family gathered and doctors removed her from life support, he said.

Harwood said the lightning blast knocked Ken Meltzer to the ground and made him black out. He suffered an ankle injury.

“He’s just lost his wife, and he’s still in a daze,” Harwood said.

Debra Meltzer grew up in Elyria and attended Elyria Catholic High School. She had lived in the Wakeman area on the Lorain County border for about 20 years, her father said. In addition to her husband, she is survived by twin 27-year-old daughters and several grandchildren.

Tuttle said his daughter was a homemaker and will be remembered for her kindness and ability to make everyone laugh. She loved animals.

Visitation will be 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Morman Funeral Home in Wakeman, where funeral services will be 11 a.m. Monday.

Tuttle said he wasn’t prepared for such a sudden end for his daughter’s life.

“We’re just trying to get it out of our minds as much as we can, but it’s a hard thing to do,” he said.

Lightning flashes about 25 million times each year in the United States, and has killed an average of 62 people each year, according to the National Weather Service.

Ohio ranks as the eighth most dangerous state for deaths caused by lightning, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study shows.

Between 1997 and 2006, 13 Ohio residents were killed by lightning.

Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.

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