Talk about bad luck. Two hikers got lost on a Colorado mountain. But that was the least of their troubles; both also got struck by lightning while trying to be rescued.
Screw those two in particular, huh? The two hikers were on the phone with a rescue team when lightning struck them. Both survived, but one suffered critical injuries. The strange incident happened on June 12. Two hikers got lost near the summit of Torreys Peak in the Southern Rocky Mountains.
They were on the phone with rescue when lightning struck the pair. Alpine Rescue Team shared the bizarre incident.
"They were talking about, you know, it's super windy up here, we're kind of stuck in hail, we're going to start descending. And then the next thing you heard was a super loud commotion, a phone drop, and just screaming," Jake Smith, President of the Alpine Rescue Team, told CBS News. "After a few more seconds, somebody came back on the line had said, 'We've been hit by lightning. My partner's down. He's not responsive. He's foaming at the mouth. Do I start CPR? What do I do?'"
Lightning Strikes Hikers
Five teams immediately responded to the incident. Sadly, a storm delayed rescue, but the National Guard was able to airlift the critically injured hiker out of the area. The other hiker was lifted out later.
"In the state of Colorado, we've had many rescues where we've had military helicopters land on the top of fourteeners," Smith told the outlet. "But for them to actually hoist a subject above that 14er and raise them up on the table, we're fairly confident that this is the highest [hoist] in the state's history."
Lightning was an unfortunate possibility.
"Unfortunately, if you're on a peak like Torreys, you're not going to see the storms until you're at the top," Smith told the outlet. "So, on those peaks where you're approaching from the east, I'd say it's especially critical to start early," he continued. "Finish early because you may get to the top and find that there's a huge storm wall headed your way, and you don't have a lot of time to descend by using it."
