Lightning strike kills 22-year-old man camping in Wyoming wilderness, officials say

Lightning struck a group of backpackers and killed a 22-year-old man, Wyoming officials said.

A group of students from the National Outdoor Leadership School planned to camp in the Absaroka Mountains in Wyoming on Tuesday, Aug. 2, the group said. Lightning struck the group’s camp, according to Teton County Search and Rescue.

The 22-year-old went into cardiac arrest after the lightning strike, the National Outdoor Leadership School said in a news release.

Another student was also injured in the strike.

Rescuers rushed to help the man. A helicopter crew with three search-and-rescue volunteers flew to the scene and took over resuscitation efforts.

At that point, group members had already been performing CPR on the man for over an hour. The man did not survive.

The man and the injured student were flown out of the wilderness.

The injured student was flown to the Eastern Idaho Medical Center for care. The group said the person was in stable condition.

Officials later returned to the scene and flew the man to the Jackson Hole Airport to meet the county coroner. Officials did not disclose the man’s name.

The man’s family members told the Jackson Hole Daily they are “rocked by grief.”

“We know in his last moments he was with others who shared his passion for the wilderness and helping others,” family members told the news outlet. “And he was doing what he loved best — being outdoors, in awe of the beauty of nature.”

Other members of the group were experiencing an “acute emotional reaction” to the lightning strike, rescuers said. Officials were concerned they would not be able to make the 12-mile trek out of the wilderness and planned to pick them up.

However, they could not initially reach the campers because of fog.

“When the weather cleared, the interagency helicopter flew to the site and picked up the two additional patients and two SAR members and transported them out of the backcountry,” rescuers said.

At least nine other people in the U.S. have died from a lightning strike this year as of Aug. 4, according to the National Lightning Safety Council. Between 2006 and 2021, lightning caused about 28 deaths per year in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

“TCSAR recognizes the tragedy of this rare event, and extends its sincere condolences to the deceased man’s family and friends and everyone involved in the incident,” rescuers said.

This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Lightning strike kills 22-year-old man camping in Wyoming wilderness, officials say."