Pembroke Pines native survives lightning strike, on road to miraculous recovery
If there’s one thing Cooper City native Bryan Lieberman would say about his friend, James Fernandez of Pembroke Pines, it’s this: “(He’s) adventurous and spontaneous.”
That’s why when Lieberman found out Fernandez had chosen to hike Peruvian mountains for Thanksgiving, he wasn’t shocked.
It was a 2 a.m. text from Fernandez’s mother that read “Call me” that sounded off alarms.
“I called her in the morning (and she said) ‘There’s been a terrible accident,’” Lieberman said. “My first question was, ‘Is James alive?’ And she goes, ‘He’s alive, but he got struck by lightning.”
Nearly two months later, the 41-year-old Fernandez — a husband, father of two and teacher in Pinellas County, near Tampa — is back in the United States and making “statistic-shattering progress” after surviving a spinal cord injury that doctors say was supposed to render him immobile.
He’s also seeing support pour in, with a GoFundMe created in November raising nearly $200,000 as of Jan. 22.
“We wanted to make as much noise as we possibly could for the benefit of James and his family,” Lieberman said. “It’s the best way to tastefully highlight a really horrible situation.”
The accident
It was “a nice day” when Fernandez, accompanied by Minnesota friend Yuri Botelho and a local guide, chose to bike a popular mountain trail 12,000 feet above sea level near Cucsco on Wednesday, Nov. 26, according to Lieberman.
Botelho and Fernandez — who loved the outdoors and often went on surfing trips with Lieberman and mutual friend Austin Mautner — had traveled to Peru with their wives, Kelsey Skoog-Botelho and Alexis Fernandez, and their babies for Thanksgiving.
“During that week, a storm rolled in,” Lieberman said. “Lightning dropped and hit Yuri out of nowhere. ... James was knocked unconscious and thrown from his bike.”
Botelho was killed instantly and Fernandez, who was launched 15 feet after being struck, was critically injured.
Both were stranded on the rainy mountaintop for two hours before police, hailed by the Peruvian guide who accompanied them, arrived.
“He’s broken his neck, he can’t feel his arms, he can’t feel his legs, but he’s with Alexis and their baby down in Peru, and we’re trying to get him out,” Fernandez’s parents later told Lieberman.
Recovery updates, community support
Fernandez is now recovering at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta after being medically evacuated from Peru and completing a short stint at a Tampa-based hospital, Lieberman says.
He’s able to breathe and talk on his own without the help of a ventilator, a feat considering some who have suffered the same spinal cord injury never “get off of the breathing device at all,” according to Lieberman.
Fernandez no longer needs a neck brace, “has graduated to a regular diet,” and is learning to use a motorized wheelchair to get around, reads a note on his GoFundMe page.
He’s also showing muscle activity in his shoulders and biceps, which doctors consider an “encouraging sign” in his effort to regain mobility in his arms and torso.
But a full comeback for the Fernandez family is still far off, Lieberman emphasizes.
“James is devastated about Yuri, but also his own situation,” Lieberman said. “He was trying to kite surf, he was teaching his older son how to bike, he was trying to get on his next surf adventure with me and our friends. ... Now he can’t move his legs. ... It’s not the life he planned for himself.”
His wife, Alexis, has since relocated to Georgia with Fernandez’s two sons — an 8-year-old and 8-month-old — while navigating steep medical bills and uncertainty about her husband’s recovery.
To ease the family’s burdens, Lieberman and Mautner created the fundraiser days after the accident and reached out to friends in the media industry for help spreading the word.
Neither imagined the traction it would gain with loved ones and strangers alike.
Parents from Palm Harbor Middle School — where Fernandez teaches science — consistently reach out for updates on Fernandez’s recovery and regularly ask about visits and sending gifts, Lieberman says.
A memorial of get-well cards made by students, who lovingly call him “Nandez,” has been pinned inside the school, the GoFundMe page says.
Former coworkers and travelers with Backroads, a travel company for which Fernandez led biking tours, are contributing to his recovery fund, with one Peru-based friend he made through the platform rushing to help him hours after the accident.
Lieberman has even heard from strangers who have donated because they were “really touched by his story.”
“(James) has got this magnetism. He keeps really close friends. I think he inspires students. ... It’s a testament to who he is and the community that he’s created.”
For more information on Fernandez’s recovery or to donate, check out his GoFundMe campaign here.
