A gaggle of church youth group members have been left injured after lightning struck close to them whereas mountain climbing in Utah.
A complete of fifty teenagers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints skilled the horrifying second on Thursday close to the Salina Canyon in Sevier County.
Stunning video confirmed the precise second the lightning bolt got here down on the group, as one teen, Jacob Johnson, 18, was seen mendacity on the muddy floor after being hit.
Johnson and 6 others have been taken to the hospital, in accordance with police. He was launched a couple of hours later with a minor concussion. On Friday, the Sevier County Sheriff’s Workplace stated all however one teen was launched from the hospital.
‘I bear in mind it felt like a baseball bat had simply been swung into my head. And I flew ahead, and I blacked out,’ Johnson advised East Idaho Information.
Seven teenagers have been injured after being struck by lightning on Thursday close to the Salina Canyon in Sevier County. Johnson is seen mendacity on the muddy floor after being hit
The sheriff’s workplace stated two of the injured teenagers ‘have been flown by way of medical helicopter to Main Youngsters’s Hospital in Lehi,’ whereas the opposite 5 have been taken to Gunnison Hospital and Sevier Valley Hospital
Video of the terrifying second begins with a lady and her mates laughing as they stroll on the muddy floor.
The woman recording the terrifying second was saying hello to her mom and capturing recollections simply earlier than lightning struck
‘Hello, mother! So we’re taking a stroll, take a look at my footwear: soaked,’ the woman says.
She then turns the digital camera to her mates subsequent to her as they wave to the digital camera and say hello.
In that second, an enormous rumble of thunder takes over, together with a big flash of brilliant lightning.
The woman’s cellphone tumbles as rain is seen falling from the darkish clouds above.
‘I simply acquired hit, I simply acquired hit, oh my gosh,’ one woman says.
The group, wrapped in rubbish luggage to keep away from getting soaked from the rain, begin to go searching at one another in full panic.
A blue backpack lies on the bottom as the ladies recording begins to cry and says: ‘Mother we simply go hit, mother I simply acquired hit!’
A complete of fifty teenagers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints skilled the horrifying second
Jacob Johnson, 18, was seen mendacity on the muddy floor after being hit. He was launched from the hospital a couple of hours later with a minor concussion
The digital camera then turns to Johnson laying on the bottom, coated in a black trash bag, along with his eyes closed.
A boy says: ‘And I simply acquired hit, I am OK, however he is not doing too properly.’
The digital camera strikes and reveals different teenagers alongside the muddy path because the boy continues: ‘A pair different folks acquired hit.’
A gaggle of ladies are seen crying in terror as all of them attempt to comprehend what simply occurred.
They begin to hug an inform one another to breathe, as one woman says: ‘You are OK, you are OK.’
One other member then tells everybody to maintain strolling because the video ends.
Johnson recalled what he thought simply moments earlier than he was slammed to the bottom by lightning.
‘We began to hike, and it began to come back down fairly arduous. I bear in mind considering like, “That is type of a bit scary,”‘ he stated.
Whereas on the bottom, he recalled ideas and questions racing by way of his thoughts.
‘I used to be considering, , “Is that this it? , did I simply die?” I used to be fascinated about all of the issues that I nonetheless wished to perform in my life,’ Johnson stated.
‘And I simply had an awesome sense of affection from my Heavenly Father as a result of I knew I had extra to do on this world and from that second on, I knew I used to be going to be okay.’
One other member, Peyton Bailey, 14, stated the highly effective strike instantly knocked her to the bottom
The sheriff’s workplace stated two of the injured teenagers ‘have been flown by way of medical helicopter to Main Youngsters’s Hospital in Lehi,’ whereas the opposite 5 have been taken to Gunnison Hospital and Sevier Valley Hospital.
One other member, Peyton Bailey, 14, advised Fox 13 Now, the highly effective strike instantly knocked her to the bottom.
‘It was so brilliant and the sound was so loud. There was ringing in my ears and it felt like a bunch of weight had hit my head and pushed me backwards,’ Bailey recalled.
She stated that previous to the hike, the teenagers and their mother and father have been warned in regards to the extreme climate forward.
‘And all of us selected to go like this was nobody’s fault.
‘We had medical autos using alongside us as we have been strolling and I believe that is how we acquired children out so shortly is as a result of we had these medical autos prepared,’ she stated.
Bailey stated she is simply grateful no person was killed or severely injured within the near-death expertise.