High School Football Players Escape Injury When Lightning Strikes

Fifteen Decatur Central High School students and two coaches escaped serious injury when lightning struck as they attempted to clear a football practice field Friday.

“I think we dodged a bullet,” assistant coach Dave Enright said of the strike, which hit at 3 p.m. “Literally, we dodged a lightning bolt.”

Enright said 30 players and coaches were on the field when they saw lightning strike nearby and started heading inside.

“When we saw the first bolt, we were out of there,” he said. “Then it must have hit the ground, come up through the ground through the players’ legs, then they fell to the ground.”

Dr. Dallas Peak of Methodist Hospital said the strike created an electrical current in the ground that surged into the legs of those near it.

“It shocked my neck and went through my legs. I’ve never felt anything like this,” said Kyle Enright, a fullback and linebacker.

Another lightning strike about the same time injured a teenager at an amusement center 10 miles away.