Teenager unconscious after lightning strike – grateful to be alive

SALINA, Sevier County — A moment of shock for 50 young people of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after they felt a lightning strike near Salina Canyon in Sevier County on Thursday.

“It’s truly a miracle under the circumstances,” said 18-year-old Jacob Johnson.

Cellphone video obtained by KSL TV showed Johnson lying almost lifeless on the ground after the lightning strike. He was one of seven teens hospitalized after the incident.

Johnson on the ground after lightning struck near him. (Courtesy of Peyton Bailey)

“We started hiking and it started raining pretty heavily. I remember thinking, ‘This is kind of scary,'” he said.

Johnson said he heard thunder around him but thought nothing of it. Moments later, lightning struck near him and his group.

“I remember it felt like someone had just hit me in the head with a baseball bat. I flew forward and passed out,” Johnson said.

He said he kept losing consciousness shortly afterward.

“I thought, is that it? Did I just die? I thought about all the things I wanted to accomplish in my life,” Johnson said. “And I just felt 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 everything was going to be OK.”

With only a mild concussion, he was able to leave the hospital within a few hours.

“It had to be divine intervention because there’s no way I could just lie unconscious on the floor and be fine the next day,” Johnson said.

He is convinced that it was his faith that got him through.

“If we have faith, faith in our God, we can get through these things, that’s what I’ve learned,” Johnson said.

He said he was grateful to everyone who got him to safety. The Sevier County Sheriff’s Office said all but one of the teens had left the hospital by Friday afternoon.

Update: Teenagers recover from lightning strike, one remains in hospital