Jacob Johnson, 18, was trekking through Salina Canyon with 50 other teenagers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday, June 27, when lightning struck the group, as reported by KSL TV.
“We started hiking, and the rain came down pretty hard. I remember thinking, ‘This is getting a little scary,'” Johnson recounted to the outlet.
Johnson was walking along a muddy trail during the rain shower when the thunderous crack hit the group.
The teenage hikers screamed in fear and confusion, with several exclaiming, “I just got hit.”
As the group tried to gather themselves, one hiker off-camera can be heard saying, “Jacob Johnson and I just got hit. I’m okay, but he’s not doing too well.”
The camera then pans to Johnson, seemingly unconscious and lying still on the ground with a black garbage bag wrapped around him.
“I remember feeling like a baseball bat had just been swung into my head. I flew forward and blacked out,” Johnson recalled.
When he regained consciousness, Johnson initially thought he had died.
“I was thinking, ‘Is this it? Did I just die?’ I was thinking about all the things I still wanted to accomplish in my life,” he said. “I 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 I was going to be okay.”
According to the report, Johnson and six other teenagers were rushed to the hospital.
The 18-year-old suffered a minor concussion and was discharged 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 I just get knocked out on the ground, and the next day, I’m perfectly fine.”
He attributes his safety during the terrifying incident to his faith.
“When we have faith, faith in our God that we can get through those things, that’s what I’ve learned,” Johnson said.
According to the outlet, the wet ground acted as a conductor for the lightning, causing multiple teenagers to feel the shock.
