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09-16-2004, 08:44 AM
Football player dies after lightning strike
08:23 AM CDT on Thursday, September 16, 2004
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / DallasNews.com
A Grapeland high school football player died Wednesday after the team’s field was struck by lightning during practice on Tuesday.
Russell Pennington, a senior, suffered from severe burns and was flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where he died around 4 p.m., school superintendent Buddy Sumrall told DallasNews.com.
About 40 students and coaches suffered injuries, including soreness, headaches, abdominal pains and burns. Nineteen students and two coaches were hospitalized overnight. All were released by Wednesday afternoon except for one coach, who is in good condition, said Rebecca Berkley, spokeswoman for East Texas Medical Center.
The team was about to wrap up Tuesday’s practice when it started to sprinkle around 5:30 p.m., Sumrall said.
Because of clouds, the coaches had brought a lightning meter to the field, which tells them whether lightning is in the area and gives the distance. The meter did not indicate anything was in the area, Sumrall said.
“It was a single bolt of lightning – period,” Sumrall said. “Just a freak of nature. There were a couple of hundred people at the field and no one saw lightning before or after that one bolt.”
The football players were running sprints when the bolt struck the middle of the pack, said Jerry Richards, an assistant coach.
“It staggered everybody,” he said. “The force of it either knocked you down or knocked you backward several feet.”
Coaches performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Pennington until emergency aid arrived.
The bizarre incident has left Grapeland, a town of 1,500 about 120 miles southeast of Dallas, stunned and grieving.
This week’s football game was canceled and only a half-day of school was scheduled for Thursday so counselors could talk to students.
Sumrall fought back tears when he talked about how he will remember Pennington.
“He’s one terrific kid,” he said. “He was a leader in the classroom, football field, in his church. He was an excellent student, a great kid from an excellent family.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
08:23 AM CDT on Thursday, September 16, 2004
By KIMBERLY DURNAN / DallasNews.com
A Grapeland high school football player died Wednesday after the team’s field was struck by lightning during practice on Tuesday.
Russell Pennington, a senior, suffered from severe burns and was flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where he died around 4 p.m., school superintendent Buddy Sumrall told DallasNews.com.
About 40 students and coaches suffered injuries, including soreness, headaches, abdominal pains and burns. Nineteen students and two coaches were hospitalized overnight. All were released by Wednesday afternoon except for one coach, who is in good condition, said Rebecca Berkley, spokeswoman for East Texas Medical Center.
The team was about to wrap up Tuesday’s practice when it started to sprinkle around 5:30 p.m., Sumrall said.
Because of clouds, the coaches had brought a lightning meter to the field, which tells them whether lightning is in the area and gives the distance. The meter did not indicate anything was in the area, Sumrall said.
“It was a single bolt of lightning – period,” Sumrall said. “Just a freak of nature. There were a couple of hundred people at the field and no one saw lightning before or after that one bolt.”
The football players were running sprints when the bolt struck the middle of the pack, said Jerry Richards, an assistant coach.
“It staggered everybody,” he said. “The force of it either knocked you down or knocked you backward several feet.”
Coaches performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Pennington until emergency aid arrived.
The bizarre incident has left Grapeland, a town of 1,500 about 120 miles southeast of Dallas, stunned and grieving.
This week’s football game was canceled and only a half-day of school was scheduled for Thursday so counselors could talk to students.
Sumrall fought back tears when he talked about how he will remember Pennington.
“He’s one terrific kid,” he said. “He was a leader in the classroom, football field, in his church. He was an excellent student, a great kid from an excellent family.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.