Lightning storm linked to Delco man’s death

The death of a Delaware County man on Tuesday night during a thunderstorm has been linked to the electrical storm but not to an actual lighting strike, the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office said today.

Medical Examiner Fredric Hellman said an autopsy determined that David Toy, 62, of Media, died suddenly as a result of "biventricular hypertrophy, heart, with a history of hypertension and a co-occurring electrical storm."

The exact manner of death was "undetermined" and the medical examiner's report did not mention any burns on Toy's body.

Toy was found collapsed on the front lawn of his Citation Lane home and emergency responders pronounced him dead at 6:25 p.m., the medical examiner's report said.

A neighbor, Louise Lorenz, who was inside her house at the time, told the Inquirer that there was a loud lightning strike about the time Toy died.

"It scared us," Lorenz said. "It was so close."