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Although he doesn't remember much of the experience, he was struck by a bolt of lightning as a severe thunderstorm swept through the area. His was one of the more than 1,000 strikes that flared across the Beaufort County sky during the two-hour storm.
On Thursday, Gariti summarized his experience this way: "I got lit up before I could light up."
Gariti said that when he opened the door to have a smoke, he saw a bright flash. He awoke a few seconds later on his living room floor with his dog, Bailey, licking his face. The force of the strike had knocked him back inside.
He was hit by a two bits of good fortune, as well, he said.
Though the bolt tossed him about five feet, he landed on his dog's pillow near the front door, which cushioned his landing.
And it also knocked his cell phone out of his pocket. The device landed near his hand.
"I couldn't move (and) that's how I was able to call 911 because the phone was just right there," he said.
He first called his wife, Alison, who was at work.
"He just said, 'I've been hit,' when I answered the phone," Alison said, a line that reminded her of something out of "Saving Private Ryan."
"He didn't say what had hit him, just that he was in pain. When he finally told me, I was frightened, obviously."
Paramedics rushed him to Coastal Carolina Hospital in Hardeeville, where he was released later that night. He had a dislocated hip and wrenched back, he said.
"I don't know if I would say I'm lucky," he said. "I wasn't really hurt."
Gariti's brother, Joe, thinks "lucky" is exactly what his brother was.
Scott is the "luckiest unlucky guy in the world," he said.
And, now, a little cautious as well.
While Gariti said thunder and lightning scare him a little, the incident wasn't a shock to his sense of humor.
His friends have made sure of that.
"People have started calling me 'Sparky,' " he said. "That's probably the worst part of this."
