A group of 50 teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 were hiking in Salina Canyon, Utah, when the unexpected happened. The girls and boys were on a youth trip with their church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, trekking through the mud when a storm rolled in, and lightning struck the ground under them. Peyton Bailey, 14, told Fox News Digital via email, “It felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat in my head, and then a huge pressure of thousands of pounds was on me, but then it released, and my heart was beating so fast. I stood up quickly, and we were all in shock, saying, ‘We just got hit by lightning!’ We were giggling at first, but then the reality set in.”
Two of the teens were flown via helicopter to Primary Children’s Hospital in Lehi, five were taken by ambulance, and about two dozen were taken to the emergency room by their parents, FOX 13 reported, and JaRalle Bailey, Peyton Bailey’s mother, confirmed to Fox News Digital. Every youth group member reported feeling the shock, according to FOX 13. Peyton Bailey captured on video the exact moment the bolt struck. The video shows a mix of hail and rain, and group members can be heard screaming as lightning strikes. Peyton Bailey said the incident occurred during the first mile of the group’s 6-mile hike. Bailey added that she saw her friend, Jacob, unconscious alongside others who were passed out on the ground as well. She said that many of her friends reported symptoms of headaches and ringing in the ears.
Bailey said, “The storm rolled in so fast, and many of our leaders had already left to get the trucks to get us out of the storm. Had they not, we wouldn’t have gotten out so quickly. That was a miracle before the lightning struck.” The other “miracle” was how the “spotty cell service” the group experienced during the hike suddenly cleared up after the incident. The group leader and members were able to call 911. “It was a miracle that it hit the ground instead of one of us and that none of us were fatally killed. There are stories of entire elk and livestock herds being killed in incidents like this, but all of us are fine,” she said.
Bailey was checked into and out of the emergency room the same day after medical staff ran an EKG, blood work and additional heart tests. The teens weathered the storm with no group members reporting any life-threatening injuries. “We believe angels and a loving Heavenly Father were protecting us,” Bailey said. There are roughly 40 million lightning strikes that hit the ground each year, and almost 90 percent of all lightning strike victims survive, according to the CDC. The National Weather Service (NWS) offers lightning safety tips on its website.