Teenagers Recovering from devastating shock, one remains in hospital

SALINA, Sevier County — All but one of the teens hospitalized after a lightning strike have been sent home, according to the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office.

In a message to KSL TV, Sheriff Nathan Curtis confirmed that all but one of the teens had been released from the hospital. One young woman remained at Salt Lake City Children’s Hospital for an MRI and follow-up tests.

In total, about 50 teenagers were shocked by a lightning strike in eastern Sevier County Thursday while hiking at a church.

Seven teens were hospitalized and two were flown to hospitals in northern Utah, according to Curtis. KSL TV confirmed that one of the teens was flown to the Miller Family Campus of Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi and the other to the Salt Lake City campus.

According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, the teens escaped with life-threatening injuries and no serious burns were reported.

“I think I felt a lot of adrenaline just because I wanted to be the group mom and make sure everyone was okay, but now that we’ve had a few hours to decompress, we’re feeling more and more more good,” said Alyssa Rosquist, 17, in an interview with KSL TV Thursday evening. “But I also feel at least very lucky. »

And luck might have been on their side. It appears that no one was directly hit by lightning.

The National Weather Service’s Salt Lake office was closely tracking Thursday’s powerful storm.

Considering the powerful charge of a lightning bolt of 300 million watts and 30,000 amps, they were concerned for the young people involved in the incident, but not surprised.

David Church, science and operations manager at the Salt Lake City Weather Prediction Office, said lightning-related injuries in Utah are not uncommon.

“Utah ranks, per capita, in the top 10 in the nation in annual lightning deaths. It shows, I think, a lot of the intersection between being outside and being in the open air,” Church said. “These storms that bubble up every summer afternoon in the mountains, where we want to recreate.”

The last lightning death in Utah was in 2016, and the last reported injury was in 2021.

As for the lightning, Church said it was powerful and highly unpredictable. While metal and water do not attract electricity, they are conductors. The electrical charge from the lightning likely traveled through the water to the ground and shocked the teens.

“Lightning always looks for the path of least resistance to the ground,” Church explained. “It’s a very chaotic, somewhat random process; we don’t know where lightning is going to strike.”

As everyone tries to understand the physics of what the teens went through, they are relieved that everyone survived.

“I think it was definitely a big blessing,” Rosquist said.

According to Church, there is unfortunately very little you can do to protect yourself from lightning once you are outside. The best option is to find a shelter or hard-top vehicle.