By Stuart Tomlinson
The Oregonian
Shortly before he was struck by a 50,000-degree bolt of lightning, 14-year-old Austin Melton of La Pine dismissed a warning by a friend not to go outside to watch the thunderstorm rumbling overhead.
According to his father, Chuck Melton, his happy-go-lucky son said, “What are the chances of getting struck?”
About 1 in 700,000, according to the National Weather Service.
On Wednesday afternoon, Austin, an eighth-grader at La Pine Middle School, went to La Pine High School to play basketball. About 6:15 p.m., one of the more than 10,000 lightning strikes unleashed by the dozens of thunderstorms that hit the state Wednesday struck him on the head.
Austin’s brother, Derrick, 19, said it appeared lightning entered Austin’s body through the top of his head and through his chest. His shoes burned so badly that one melted onto his ankle, leaving a severe burn that may require a skin graft, Derrick Melton said.
Derrick said his brother walked alone across the field toward the bleachers and was struck by lightning.
“It was a really big thing of lightning,” he said. “He was the only person who went outside.”
At a news conference Thursday, Chuck Melton said that when he first heard the news his son was struck by lightning, he went “numb.” By the time he arrived at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, a feeling of peace had come over him.
“Somehow, I just knew everything was going to be fine,” he said, before making the journey from Bend to Portland with his son in a medical helicopter.
By Thursday morning, he was “overwhelmed with joy” that his son had survived.
“I’ve told him before to stay under cover when there’s thunder and lightning,” Melton said.
Melton said his son did not remember what happened to him. His eyes got very large when he was told he was struck by lightning, Melton said.
Dr. Chris Kaufmann, who is treating Austin at Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center, said the boy also suffered burns to his face, abdomen and chest and has a perforated eardrum.
The burns on his chest, Kaufmann said, were probably caused by his sweat flashing into steam and scalding him. Austin’s condition was upgraded from serious to fair Wednesday afternoon, and Kaufmann said he could be out of the hospital in a week.
Unlike some survivors who are knocked unconscious or go into cardiac arrest, Austin was awake and combative when paramedics reached him. Because his heart did not stop, Kaufmann said, he probably will be spared the neurological difficulties, personality changes and other mental problems some survivors experience.
“He’s extremely lucky,” Kaufmann said. “He is awake and talking to us, moving his arms and legs. We expect him to make a full recovery.”
On average, about 60 people die after being struck by lightning each year in the U.S. That’s 10 percent of the nearly 600 who are struck. Like Austin, 100 percent of them are outside when struck.
Contrary to popular belief, Oregon gets its fair share of thunderstorms each year, especially in eastern and central Oregon, said Dan Keirns of the National Weather Service in Portland. Typically the storms start to fire up in July, but Keirns said, “They are a little early this year.”
Thursday saw a repeat performance, as thunderstorms raced up the central spine of the Cascades spilled into the Willamette Valley with one-inch hail, strong winds and heavy rains. A tornado warning was issued for Marion and Linn counties.
“There was a pretty good little cluster that went through there about that time,” Keirns said of the storms that hit La Pine on Wednesday evening. “We had about 3,500 strikes an hour for about three hours around the state.”
Keirns said he got a call from a teacher in Cottage Grove on Thursday morning asking whether it was OK to take the kids outside the school for some activities.
“I told them there was a big line heading right for them . . . maybe best to keep them in today,” he said. “At least people in the schools seem to be aware of the danger.”
Copyright 2009 The Oregonian
All Rights Reserved