A 16-year-old Florida girl went into cardiac arrest after she and three other teenagers were reportedly struck by lightning while standing under a banyan tree late Thursday afternoon.
Ashley King was in critical condition in a Florida hospital Friday, according to Tampa Bay’s Fox 13. She reportedly went into a 15-minute cardiac arrest before St. Petersburg paramedics were able to get a pulse.
The lighting strike hospitalized the three other teens in stable condition. A 17-year-old boy suffered burn-related injuries, reported Florida station WKMG.
First responders arrived around 5:45 p.m. to an area in downtown St. Petersburg after receiving reports of multiple people being struck by lightning during a storm.
Paramedics quickly provided life-saving measures to two teens lying on the ground under the tree, while the other two teens told medics they too were struck.
The victims in total included two 16-year-old girls and two boys, ages 16 and 17, according to WKMG.
The National Weather Service (NWS) says lightning strikes kill 27 Americans annually and injure more than 240 people. The organization puts the odds of an individual being struck at one out of 15,300.
Seven people have so far been killed by lighting in 2024, according to the NWS. That included a 59-year-old New Jersey man electrocuted in June whose girlfriend said he died trying to warn beachgoers that a dangerous storm was headed for their Seaside Park location.
