more photosLA PINE — The lightning storm drew Austin Melton, 14, away from a basketball game at La Pine High School on Wednesday evening.
A friend warned him about going out in the storm, but Melton shrugged it off.
There’s nothing to worry about, Melton said, according to his father, before he crossed the parking lot to watch the storm from a clearing near the baseball field.
Chuck Melton was not surprised his son didn’t worry about the storm. His son, he said, is always looking for fun.
“He’s just a happy-go-lucky child,” Melton said Thursday. “He is kind of a thrill seeker. ... He kind of reminds me of me.”
A group of La Pine High students watching the storm from near the gym heard a boom and saw a bright flash of lightning. A small cloud of dust rose where Melton fell on a dirt and gravel patch, according to Jay Mathisen, the La Pine High School principal.
Chuck Melton said the lightning hit his son on the right side of his face. It traveled through his body, burning his chest where there was some sweat, and exited at his ankle.
The burns along the right side of his body look like a bad sunburn, his father said. The ankle wound might require a skin graft. Melton also suffered a perforated eardrum and possibly a cataract in one eye.
But he is expected to recover from all his injuries, and Thursday he was scheduled to be transferred outt of the intensive care unit.
At La Pine High on Wednesday night, two of the students who saw the lightning ran to help once they realized what had happened. Another went inside to find the school resource officer.
Inside the gym, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Deputy Zach Neemann, who serves as the school’s resource officer, was refereeing a basketball game when students ran in, panicked. They screamed that lightning had hit someone.
Neemann grabbed his phone and keys, and ran outside. By the time he was outside, the ambulance had arrived.
“The response was within minutes,” Neemann said.
Neemann jogged toward Melton. A group had crowded around the teenager to shelter him from the rain and hail with a blanket and their bodies. Melton, conscious, was on the ground.
Because breathing can be a problem after a lightning strike, the paramedics put a breathing tube into Melton’s throat, according to Dr. Chris Kaufmann, who treated Melton in Portland.
An AirLink Critical Care Transport helicopter flew Austin to St. Charles Bend, where Chuck Melton met up with his son.
“I put my hand on his forehead and told him God loves him,” he said. “He nodded his head.”
Because of his burns, Austin Melton was sent via airplane to Portland. From the Portland International Airport, an ambulance raced him to Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center.
On Thursday night, Melton was scheduled for a transfer out of the intensive care unit, according to his father.
“Every prognosis gets better,” Melton said.
In La Pine on Thursday, counselors were available at the middle school, which Melton attends. Students could speak with one of two counselors or spend time in a “safe room,” according to Debbi Mason, one of the counselors.
About 20 students spoke with counselors, and another 50 spent time in the safe room, writing cards or notes to Melton. The mood in the room shifted throughout the day.
“Last night, there were lots of rumors flying around,” Mason said. “This morning, (the news) was pretty hopeful, but it’s only gotten better.”
Doctors do not expect the La Pine eighth-grader to suffer any long-lasting effects from the lightning strike. Still, Austin will likely be in the hospital for another week, his father said. Because the electricity traveled through his muscles, Melton must still undergo tests to ensure there isn’t any significant internal damage.
He must also go through some physical therapy as he prepares to walk. But, for now, relief dominates the Meltons’ feelings.
“For him to survive and be in this condition, it’s incredible,” Chuck Melton said.
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