BROOKLYN, New York, (CMC ): A Vincentian cricketer is still battling for his life after being struck by bolts of lightning last Sunday at Marine Park.

Patrick Gibson, 41, who was making his debut for Vincentian team Stars United in the Brooklyn Cricket League (BCL), has remained in critical condition at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan.

Doctors said they will operate on Gibson when the swelling to his brain subsides. They said bleeding at different parts of his brain has stopped.

Gibson, a construction worker in Brooklyn, was first taken to the hospital's medical centre in Brooklyn Sunday before being later transferred to the main hospital in Manhattan, said Vincentian Greg Dublin, who plays for another Vincentian team, Imperial, the defending BCL knock-out champions.

Dublin told CMC Sports that Gibson was racing off the cricket pitch after returning to retrieve his cricket gear, when he was struck by bolts of lightning during a sudden, massive thunderstorm.

Turn for the worse

"Lightning cut his hat in two, cut his pants, there are lots of lacerations on his face, and he'd stopped breathing," he said.

Dublin said after Gibson was taken to the hospital, he began "breathing on his own again, but took a turn for the worse" later Sunday night.