They do sell Ethernet surge suppressors.
This wasn't that hard ...
http://www.google.com/#bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=45cccadf8e4388c5&q=ethernet+surge+protector
Most lightning strike damage comes from cable modems or routers getting struck via the cable that runs outdoors and not being properly grounded where it comes into the house. Once the surge gets in the router, it may travel to other grounded devices in the house -- like the computer, where it hits the NIC. She's really lucky it didn't fry the entire motherboard and/or power supply in addition to the NIC chipset. The NIC "took one for the team" so to speak.
Greg
This wasn't that hard ...
http://www.google.com/#bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=45cccadf8e4388c5&q=ethernet+surge+protector
Most lightning strike damage comes from cable modems or routers getting struck via the cable that runs outdoors and not being properly grounded where it comes into the house. Once the surge gets in the router, it may travel to other grounded devices in the house -- like the computer, where it hits the NIC. She's really lucky it didn't fry the entire motherboard and/or power supply in addition to the NIC chipset. The NIC "took one for the team" so to speak.
Greg