Florida Keys charter fishing captain struck by lightning, sheriff’s office says

A member of a well-known Florida Keys charter fishing legacy was hospitalized in a lightning strike Thursday morning while conducting the family business, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.

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Captain Richard “Rick” Stanczyk, 44, was offshore of Islamorada when lightning struck his boat around 6:30 a.m., said Adam Linhardt, the sheriff office’s spokesman. Another boat towed his boat to Bud N’ Mary’s Marina, the iconic Upper Keys landmark the Stanczyk family has owned since the 1970s.

Monroe County’s Trauma Star helicopter ambulance flew Stanczyk to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, according to the sheriff’s office and the county’s Fire Rescue department.

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His condition was not immediately known.

The elder Richard Stanczyk has been fishing in South Florida since the 1960s. He bought Bud N’s Mary’s in 1978, according to the company’s website. He and his two sons, Rick and Nick, remain famous fishing captains, both offshore and on the flats, in the Florida Keys. His brother Scott is also a famous Keys charter angler.

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This story will be updated as more information becomes available.