Startling footage captured the moment a Utah teen miraculously survived being struck by lightning during a church hike.
Jacob Johnson,18, was hiking Salina Canyon with 50 other teens from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday, June 27, 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,'c Johnson recalled to the outlet.
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 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.
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.
"When we have faith, faith in our God that we can get through those things, that’s what I’ve learned," Johnson said.
The wet ground acted as a conductor for the lightning, causing multiple teens to feel the shock, according to the outlet.
Watch the video below.
"MIRACLE" ESCAPE: About 50 members of a church youth group from Utah were hiking when lightning struck right next to them, sending seven to hospital. The mother of one of the hikers said it was "truly a miracle" all the kids were safe after the incident. pic.twitter.com/40t3jeoF8k
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 2, 2024
Seven people were injured after lightning struck wet ground near a hiking church youth group in Sevier County, Utah.
Two teenagers experienced serious symptoms, though none of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening. pic.twitter.com/T2lu0xOtkF— AccuWeather (@accuweather) July 2, 2024