Lightning Kills Hiker In Colorado: Tragedy As Groom Is Turned Widower Only One Week After Wedding
A lightning strike killed one hiker and injured three others on Friday. According to CNN, the group was hiking in the Rocky Mountains on Colorado’s Mount Yale Trail at around 1:15 p.m. when the incident occurred.
The hiker who was fatally killed by the lightning strike has since been identified as 31-year-old Kathleen Bartlett. Bartlett was with her husband, Ryan Pocius, at the time. The Denver Post reports that the recently married duo were just above the treeline, at around 12,400 feet. Unfortunately because of this, Kathleen and Ryan were well out of cell phone range when a bolt of lightning hit them. Two other hikers, which the Denver Post says weren’t with the pair, were also affected by the strike. Their injuries were minor.
Colorado lightning strike kills 1 hiker, injures 3 — http://t.co/b2wmLZsF4L pic.twitter.com/X5BpnCGgEg
— Joe Sutton (@itsjoesutton) July 18, 2015
Witnesses couldn’t call 911 at the site of the incident and had to scramble thousands of feet down the mountain trail to get a signal. First responders were delayed from reaching the victims until around 5 p.m. due to the rugged and steep landscape. The weather caused more problems, keeping a helicopter from at bay for nearly an hour. At about 5:45 p.m., Pocius was airlifted to a nearby hospital.
As of now, the 32-year-old is listed in critical condition. Should he recover from his injuries obtained by the lightning strike, he will be a widower. His bride, Kathleen Barlett, was declared dead at the scene. It’s believed the hiker was killed instantly.
It is a sad end to what was a whirlwind romance between a pair of nature-loving soulmates. According to Kathleen, she and Ryan met at a bar and had an instant attraction to one another.
“We ended up having more things in common than we first thought, including a shared appreciation for kids’ movies, yoga, sarcasm and love for the outdoors. It became apparent very quickly that we had both found ‘our person.’ Six months after we started dating seriously, we found ourselves engaged, and the rest is history!”
It was a love of nature that brought them together, and sadly it might be what ripped them apart forever.
The Denver Post noted that the hiker killed this past week marked the first death by a lightning strike in 2015. However, it’s the 21st such death since 2005.
As reported by the Inquisitr in June, a lightning bolt hit a group hiking on Mount Bierstadt in Pike National Forest, Colorado. One man survived, but his dog was killed. It was believed the animal’s proximity to his owner saved the man’s life.
[Image Credit: flickr]
