Parsing error on MeleeSystem script

I've recently started trying to make a game using a dated tutorial have reached the part where I have to make a melee script. I followed everything to the letter and even sought out some corrected versions, but I keep receiving a parsing error and a error with the #pragma strict.

 #pragma strict
 
 var TheDamage : int = 50;
 var Distance : float;
 var MaxDistance : float = 1.5;
 
 function Update ()
 {
     if (Input.GetButtonDown("Fire1"))
     {
         var hit : RaycastHit;
         if (Physics.Raycast (transform.position, transform.TransformDirection(Vector3.forward), hit))
         {
             Distance = hit.distance;
             if (Distance < MaxDistance)
             {
                 hit.transform.SendMessage("ApplyDamage"), TheDamage, SendMessageOptions.DontRequireReceiver);
             }
         }
     }
 }

Error Codes received

Assets/MeleeSystem.cs(3,15): error CS8025: Parsing error

Assets/MeleeSystem.cs(2,0): warning CS1633: Unrecognized #pragma directive