The Beaver County Sheriff’s Office in Utah was called at 10:45 a.m. Friday on a report of two girls who had been struck by lightning. The girls were camping with relatives for a family reunion. They had been driving on an ATV when they decided to get off and look around. When the girls headed back toward the ATV, they were struck by lightning. A dog who had been with them ran back to camp to get help. According to a press release:
“The dog returned to the camp and alerted the family. The family followed the dog back to the site where the girls were found on the ground unconscious.”
Both girls were flown to Beaver Valley Hospital via helicopter, then on to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City via Life Flight.
The younger girl, who is 8 years old, was still in critical condition as of Saturday, but “has made steady improvements and is responding to the medical interventions from the staff at Primary Children’s Hospital,” according to a press release from the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office. The older girl, who is 16, was upgraded from serious to stable condition and is continuing to heal.
A press release from the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office included the following statement from the family:
“As a collective family we would like to express our gratitude to the total stranger who stopped to render aid to our two daughters who were victims of the lightning strike in the Tusher Mountains. We would also like to express our deepest appreciation to our family in Beaver County who supported us during this event with selfless acts of kindness.
We as a family are very thankful to all of the good Samaritans and first responders who came so quickly to render aid to our daughters. Their heroic efforts and rapid response were very appreciated. We especially want to thank the pilots and flight crews from the Department of Public Safety and Life Flight. Thank you for your selfless care. We hope to personally thank each of you in the future.
We are very thankful for the support, words of kindness, and kind gestures in our daughter’s behalf. As a family we would like to take some time to focus on the healing of these two girls and we would ask for some time to focus on their immediate needs.
We would like to clarify that the girls were from Payson, Utah and Springville, Utah. We were in Beaver County attending a family reunion with members of our extended family in that area.
Thanks for everyone’s thoughts and prayers.
The Osborns.”
(H/T: Fox13 Now)
