Stan Prue stood in the gravel parking lot near Skytop Field on South Campus on Thursday and surveyed his surroundings: an office building, some parked cars, a bus that kicked up a cloud of dust as it turned around.

It felt eerie to be back, he said.

It was the first time he’d put his feet on the ground of the parking lot where he was struck by lightning one year ago.

As he spoke, a red SUV rolled up next to him and the driver rolled down the window. It was an old man and woman looking for directions to the Gebbie Hearing Clinic. Prue told them they had just passed it and it was back up the road a bit.

“That’s what I miss the most, is interacting with the community,” he said.

On Sept. 1, 2013, Prue, a Department of Public Safety Officer, and his partner, DPS Senior Detective Ed Weber, were on Orange Watch patrol duty. They parked their car at Skytop and Prue got out to stretch. At 11:55 p.m., a bolt of lightning struck Prue, launching him a few feet away.

One year later, Prue is still recovering mentally and physically from the accident.

With the hopes to eventually return to SU as a DPS officer, Prue says the outpour of support during his rehabilitation has served as motivation in his recovery.

As an ongoing side effect of being struck, Prue still has trouble with his memory. He said he remembers pulling the car into the lot the night it happened, but doesn’t remember being struck. The next thing he recalls from that night is being worked on by officers and paramedics while he was on the ground.

“It was an eerie feeling because I didn’t know what happened,” he said. “Still today what I remember is mostly just what people tell me.”

Prue spent the next 15 days at Upstate University Hospital. He was in intensive care at the hospital’s burn unit and progressed to be semi-coherent a week later, he said. Some of the time in the hospital was spent trying to process what had happened and “getting back to basics,” because he had suffered nerve and brain damage.

Prue said doctors told him he hit his head against the ground and broke the back of his head open after being thrown by the lightning strike, resulting in a traumatic brain injury.

Some of the injuries he sustained have since gone away, but Prue still feels lingering effects on a day-to-day basis. He said he deals with daily headaches and sensitivity to noise. He wears glasses to correct his vision because he suffered nerve damage in his left eye. He can’t taste or smell. He still has paralysis in his right arm, his hands and his feet.

In order to fully recover, Prue now spends three days a week seeing doctors and therapists. They have him do basic exercises, work on different muscles and try to stimulate his nerves.

“Neurological damage is unique,” he said. “It’s not like a broken arm where you put a cast on it for six weeks and it’s healed.”

There’s also the psychological toll of hearing doctors say he might not recover fully, but Prue said he uses it as motivation to try and prove them wrong.

Another thing that drives Prue is the desire to get back to work and be able to support himself and his family financially. That includes his two teenage sons. Though his medical bills relative to injuries suffered that night are covered under workers compensation, he doesn’t have a steady salary while away from work.

“I have bills to pay, my children to take care of, I’m just trying to get through everyday,” he said.

Prue said he has received support during the past year from “too many people to name.” His entire family has provided emotional and financial support. His children have been there for him emotionally throughout the recovery process. Prue said his relationship with his family and close friends has strengthened after he was struck.

Thankfully, Prue said, it hasn’t just been immediate family who has been helpful.

Members of DPS and the university community have kept in touch and provided encouragement, Prue said. One person who has been particularly supportive over the last year is DPS Sergeant James McLellan.

McLellan has worked on the same shift with Prue for about 10 years. He said when Prue was struck, everyone in the department was in disbelief.

“In this line of work there are plenty of ways to get injured performing your duties, but you never think about a lightning strike,” McLellan said. “You’re trained in how to protect yourself but with a lightning strike you can’t protect yourself.”

Since then, McLellan has stayed in touch with Prue and still talks to him every couple weeks. When Prue is feeling up to it, McClellan drives him around to meet up with some of the other officers who work the same shift.

“A lot of us worked together for 10, 15 or 20 years and we spend a third of our lives here so we’ve got to take care of each other just like family at home,” McClellan said.

Prue described driving around with McLellan and other officers as “bittersweet,” saying he enjoys the visits but misses being able to do what he used to do. He said being away from work for the past year has been tough. Even a year later, he said it’s not something he’s been able to fully adjust to.

“It’s not a good feeling,” Prue said. “It’s difficult when you’re not actively engaged in something you enjoy.”

Prue is still hoping to return to work eventually, but said it’s too premature to have that conversation given his current condition.

But even while he’s away from work, DPS Associate Chief John Sardino said Prue is still part of the organization. Sardino said he’s seen Prue around the office three or four times in the last year visiting with investigators, commanders and other DPS members.

Sardino added that when Prue was struck last September, it brought people in the department together and also raised awareness among emergency responders in the region about how to handle electrical storms. When there was a large storm on freshmen move-in day this August, Sardino said the DPS officer on duty was able to give instructions to make sure families, students and workers remained indoors and stayed safe.

And while DPS has taken lessons away from one of their own being struck by lightning, Prue himself has also learned from the ups and downs of the past year.

Even as he stands in the parking lot on Skytop, Prue says he’s in pain. He knows what to expect for lingering symptoms — including a headache he can plan on every day — but said he tries to remain positive and optimistic. He said he’s learned a lot in the past year, and will continue to learn.

“We all go through our lives everyday and never appreciate that because we all anticipate tomorrow,” Prue said. “We should make the best of each day because we can’t always count on tomorrow.”

Published on September 2, 2014 at 12:01 am

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