Utah teen struck by lightning while hiking miraculously survives after being found unconscious

A Utah teenager miraculously survived a lightning strike after being found unconscious while hiking at a church, crediting “divine intervention” for keeping him alive.

Jacob Johnson, 18, was hiking in Salina Canyon with 50 other teens from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Thursday when lightning struck the group, according to KSL TV.

“We started walking and it started to get pretty steep. I remember thinking, ‘This is a little scary,'” Johnson told the outlet.

Footage captured the moment an earth-shaking crack struck near Johnson, who was walking on a muddy path during the downpour.

The young hikers screamed in fear and confusion, several of them shouting, “I just got hit.”

As the group tries to regain their senses, one of the hikers is heard saying off-camera, “Jacob Johnson and I just got hit. I'm okay, but he's not doing so well.”

The camera pans to Johnson, apparently unconscious and lying motionless on the ground with a black trash bag wrapped around his body.

“I remember feeling like a baseball bat had just been thrown at my head. I just lunged forward and passed out,” Johnson said.

The teenager remembers waking up in a daze, thinking he was dead.

“I was wondering if this was the end of my life. Did I just die? I was thinking about all the things I still wanted to accomplish in my life,” Johnson said.

“I felt an overwhelming sense of love from my Heavenly Father because I knew I still had much to do in this world, and from that moment on I knew everything would be okay.”

Johnson and six other teens were then rushed to hospital, the outlet reported.

The 18-year-old suffered a mild concussion and was released several hours later.

“It’s really a miracle, given the circumstances,” Johnson told the outlet. “There must have been divine intervention, because there’s no way I’m going to be knocked out on the ground and the next day be perfectly fine.”

But he believes his faith protected him during this terrible ordeal.

“When we have faith, faith in our God, that we can overcome these things, that's what I've learned,” Johnson said.

The wet ground acted as a conductor for lightning, causing electric shocks in several teenagers, according to the media.

Salina Canyon is approximately 140 miles from Salt Lake City.

Each year, about 300 people are struck by lightning in the United States, and an average of 86 people are fatally affected, according to the National Weather Service.

On average, a person has a 1 in 600,000 chance of being struck by lightning in their lifetime.

Even the weakest thunderstorms can produce lightning, and most fatal strikes occur while the victim is hiking, swimming or golfing, the agency said.