Georgia girl, nine, is killed by lightning strike that also critically injures her sister, 15, on a hike with their mother
- Nicol Pedro-Mateo, 9, was walking with her sister, 15, and mother on hiking trail in Moultrie, Georgia, on Friday when sudden storm broke out
- Family and two others sought refuge under a wooden shelter near the trail
- Lightning struck a pine tree near the shelter, bolt of electricity traveled to the shelter and hit Nicol, killing her
- Girl’s sister suffered burns and was hospitalized in critical condition
A nine-year-old Georgia girl was killed and her older sister was critically injured from a lightning strike during a Fourth of July weekend storm.
Colquitt County Coroner Verlyn Brock told news outlets on Sunday that Nicol Mateo-Pedro was struck and killed on Friday as she and others sought refuge from a sudden storm under a wooden shelter near the trail where they had been hiking in Moultrie.
At around 5pm, lightning struck a pine tree next to the shelter, and the bolt of electricity traveled to the wooden structure, hitting the nine-year-old girl as she sat on a bench.
Nicol Pedro-Mateo, nine, her 15-year-old sister, their mother and two other people were huddling together under this canopy during a storm in Moultrie, Georgia, on Friday, when lightning struck and killed the young girl
Mateo-Pedro was rushed to the nearby Colquitt Regional Medical Center, she where she was pronounced dead in the emergency room after going into cardiac arrest.
Pedro’s 15-year-old sister was burned by the lightning strike and was airlifted to the John Still Burn Center in Augusta in critical condition.
The girls’ mother and two others with them were not hurt, Brock said.
The family have launched an online fundraiser seeking donations to help pay for ‘sweet’ Nicol’s funeral and to cover her sister’s medical expenses. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $3,500 has been raised.
So far this year, there have been seven lightning deaths in the US, three of them in July.
A makeshift memorial is pictured on the bench where Nicol was sitting when she was fatally struck by lightning in front of her sister and mother
According to the National Weather Service, over the past decade, the US has averaged 27 lightning fatalities per year. Only about 10 per cent of people who are struck by lightning are killed.
The odds of being struck by lightening are 1 in 1,222,000.