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New York Post
Distressing moment Utah teen is struck by lightning during church hike, praises ‘divine intervention’ for survival
By Richard Pollina,
4 hours ago
Distressing footage captured the moment A Utah teen miraculously survived being struck by lightning during a church hike, crediting “divine intervention” for keeping him alive.
Jacob Johnson,18, was hiking Salina Canyon with 50 other teens from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Thursday when the thunderbolt hit the group, according to KSL TV .
“We started to hike, and it started to come down pretty hard. I remember thinking like, ‘This is kind of a little scary,’” Johnson recalled to the outlet.
Jacob Johnson was struck by lightning while hiking with his church group on Thursday. KSL News / YouTube
Johnson had been walking along a muddy route during the rain shower when the earth-shaking crack struck the group.
The teen hikers screamed in fear and confusion, with multiple of them shouting, “I just got hit.”
As the group tried to regain its bearings, one of the hikers can be heard off camera, saying, “Jacob Johnson and I just got hit. I’m ok, but he’s not doing too well.”
The camera pans down to Johnson, seemingly unconscious and lying motionless on the ground with a black garbage bag wrapped around his body.
“I remember it felt like a baseball bat had just been swung into my head. And I flew forward, and I blacked out,” Johnson said.
The camera pans down to Johnson, seemingly unconscious and lying motionless on the ground with a black garbage bag wrapped around his body. Peyton Bailey
The teen remembers waking up in a daze, thinking that he had died.
“I was thinking, you know, is this it? You know, did I just die? I was thinking about all the things that I still wanted to accomplish in my life,” Johnson said.
“I just had an overwhelming sense of love from my Heavenly Father because I knew I had more to do in this world and from that moment on, I knew I was going to be okay.”
Johnson, along with six other teens, were then rushed to the hospital, according to the outlet.
Six other teens were injured when the lightning struck during the hike. Peyton Bailey
The 18-year-old suffered a minor concussion and was released a few hours later.
“It’s truly a miracle, considering the circumstances,” Johnson told the outlet. “There had to be some divine intervention because there’s no way that, you know, I just get knocked out on the ground, and the next day, I’m perfectly fine.”
But he believes his faith kept him safe during the harrowing ordeal.
The average person has a 1-in-600,000 chance of being struck by lightning during their lifetime.
Even the weakest thunderstorms can produce lightning, and most fatal strikes happen while the victim is hiking, swimming, or playing golf, according to the agency.
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