Nick Broderick had planned a 10-mile hike through Kettle Moraine State Forest to surprise his girlfriend, Eva, but the outing turned into a fight for his life when lightning struck a tree right next to the couple, knocking them both unconscious more than two miles from their car. Eva Broderick would go on to perform CPR on him twice before rescuers could even find them in the dense forest terrain.
The strike happened on August 9, 2025, according to TMJ4 News, which reported that firefighters determined lightning had directly hit a tree beside Nick and Eva Broderick, sending ground current through the soil and into both of them. That mechanism is strikingly common: according to National Weather Service safety guidance, ground current contributes to roughly half of lightning fatalities nationwide, making it a major cause of death even when people are never touched by the bolt itself.
Eva Broderick managed to call 911, but with a dropped cell signal, she couldn't tell rescuers exactly where in the forest they were, per the station's report. Palmyra Fire Rescue took 50 minutes to reach the couple on foot after that call came in, and crews encountered three separate path options once they reached the trailhead, forcing them to guess which route led to the injured hikers.
A Desperate Search Through the Woods
Dan Schiller said the phone's location signal only narrowed the search to somewhere between a mile and a mile and a half into the forest, without pinpointing an exact spot, the outlet noted. Separate reporting on the incident described an even more granular picture of that search: according to Unofficial Networks, emergency crews were dispatched at 4:14 p.m. that day after the 911 call pinged near the Emma Carlin Trailhead on Carlin Road, and a UTV from the Western Lakes and Sullivan Fire Department had to be brought in to navigate the rugged state forest terrain. First responders searched multiple trail splits alongside a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden before ultimately finding the couple unconscious about a mile off the main roadway.
While rescuers searched, Eva Broderick revived Nick twice on her own before crews ever reached them. That instinct to act immediately lines up with core guidance from the CDC, which notes that about 90 percent of lightning strike victims survive, but only when bystanders step in quickly, since strikes often trigger sudden cardiac arrest and victims carry no residual electrical charge that would make them unsafe to touch.
Hospital Stay, Lasting Injuries, and a Proposal
Nick Broderick was taken to a hospital, where he spent three days recovering, TMJ4 reported. He has since been left with hearing loss in one ear and ongoing tendon issues tied to the strike. Those lingering effects track with broader medical research: NIH-published literature on lightning survivors found that otologic injuries, especially tympanic membrane rupture and sensorineural hearing loss, are among the most common long-term consequences, caused by the intense acoustic shockwave a nearby bolt generates. His ongoing tendon issues remain among the effects he has experienced since the incident.
Soon after his release from the hospital, Nick proposed to Eva. The two married in August 2026. Nick said they wanted to make August a better month, while Eva put it more bluntly, saying Nick was stuck with her now because she brought him back from death.
Recognition Still to Come
Eva Broderick is set to receive the Lifesavers Award at the Palmyra Fire Department in two weeks, according to the article. The case adds a rare, dramatic data point to Wisconsin's overall lightning history: the state recorded 13 lightning fatalities between 2000 and 2025, an average of one every two years, and ranked 16th nationwide for lightning deaths over the past decade, per the National Lightning Safety Council.
The forest where the strike happened is no small patch of woods. The Southern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest spans more than 22,000 acres across Jefferson, Walworth, and Waukesha counties, according to the Wisconsin DNR. National Weather Service safety materials also explain that side flashes occur when lightning jumps from a struck object like a tree to a nearby person, underscoring why standing near trees during a storm remains dangerous.
