Global Courant
A 16-year-old girl is in critical condition after she and her father were struck by lightning while hunting in Florida, officials said.
The teen and her father were hunting in the woods in Putnam County late in the afternoon of September 26 lightning struck a treeaccording to a Sept. 27 news release from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Lightning struck both the teen and her father next to the tree, officers said, causing them to lose consciousness.
When the father woke up, his daughter was still unconscious and not breathing, officers said.
The father called 911 and began CPR until paramedics arrived, the release said.
The teen was taken to a trauma center and was in critical condition as of September 27.
“We stand with our community as we respond to this teen,” the sheriff’s office said in the news release. “She has proven to be a fighter and our prayers go out to her, her family and friends.”
Officers did not release the teen’s identity, but said she is a student at Palatka Junior-Senior High School.
The school held a prayer around their flagpole on September 27, the sheriff’s office said.
In Facebook posts, friends and loved ones identified the 16-year-old as Baylee Holbrook.
“Baylee Holbrook, you touched many lives, and so have you still have a lot to touch,” Bryanna Hall wrote in a Facebook post. “Everyone, please continue to pray for her, family and friends.”
According to her Facebook page, Baylee is an avid hunter, golfer and photographer.
Baylee’s father, Matthew Holbrook, asked the community in a Facebook post prayers for her recovery.
“You and your family are always in my heart,” Paige Pacetti Watts wrote in the comments. “The amount of outpouring you have received from our community shows what an amazing and beautiful daughter you have raised.”
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said there has been an increase in lightning strikes as storms move through North Florida this week.
The sheriff’s office would like to “remind our community that several more days of more rain, thunder and lightning are forecast to follow. Storms can come quickly and lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from any rainfall.”
Palatka is located about 60 miles south of Jacksonville.
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