Fowler Associates Labs

British Teen Killed By Lightning

Severe thunderstorms roll across Britain, claiming the life of a teenage boy, and injuring four teenage girls.

August 4, 2004

A violent thunderstorm was responsible for the death of 14-year-old Joseph Wharton when he was struck by lightning while camping out at a friends home.

Joseph, a talented teenage footballer, was hit during a sustained thunderstorm which struck the Bloxwich area early in the morning.

Paramedics attempted to revive the young boy at the scene before he was transferred to Walsall Manor Hospital.

A spokeswoman for Walsall Manor Hospital said: "A 14-year-old boy was brought into the hospital where a resuscitation team was waiting for him.

"Despite their efforts, he was pronounced dead. Our sympathy goes out to the family."

Another thunderstorm produced a lighting strike that injured four 15-year-old girls in London's Hyde Park.

The girls were all lifted up into the air by the lightning strike, before being thrown back onto the ground, an eyewitness reported.

One of the girls had stopped breathing by the time she was found by a paramedic, London Ambulance Service said. She was rushed to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington where she is recovering and is now in a stable condition in intensive care.

A London Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics had risked their lives to treat the girls.

He said: "The storm was still overhead and lightning was still coming down while they were treating the patients."

The other two injured girls are said to be "comfortable" after being kept in hospital overnight suffering from minor burns.

A fourth girl who was with them, was not struck but was treated for shock.

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said four or five people died each year as a result of lightning strikes in the UK.