[TAMPABAY] As the rain poured, Karen Zannone’s new friend turned around and flashed a smile.Zannone and James Barton had spent hours at the beach Sunday before the storm moved in. Now they were hustling back to Barton’s car, but neither minded the refreshing dousing.
"I remember him looking into my eyes and saying, ‘This is so great, I love the rain,’?" Zannone recalled. "I said, ‘I love the rain, too.’ We were definitely hurrying up to get back, but he was very happy."
The rain began to fall harder as Barton walked a half step ahead of her. Suddenly, Zannone felt a shock and saw a flash of light. She was thrown backward.
Her body buzzing and paralyzed, Zannone looked up from the ground in time to see Barton standing still, frozen like a mannequin. Then the 33-year-old Seffner plumbing contractor toppled over, face first, onto the sand.
"I thought I was dying," Zannone said, sobbing as she recalled the moment, "but I thought, ‘I have to help him. I can’t let this happen to him.’?"