Husband of woman killed by lightning has no memory of strike

Posted: Jul 14, 2014 / 02:35 PM MDT

Updated: Jul 14, 2014 / 02:35 PM MDT

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DENVER – The husband of the Ohio woman killed in a lightning strike on Friday has no memory of the moment the bolt crashed down beside him.

Justin Teilhet, whose wife Rebebbca Teilhet died in the incident at at Rocky Mountain National Park, doesn’t remember hearing a boom or feeling a sting, he told the Associated Press Monday.

“I was walking, and then I was trying to stand up,” he said. “When I found (my friend) trying to revive my wife, I crawled to them and tried to help.”

Teilhet suffered a burn to his shoulder and a cut on his face as he fell to the ground unconscious, he said. The couple’s friend and hiking partner, Nick Tertel of Fort Collins, was also hurt but gave Rebecca Teilhet CPR until paramedics arrived.

“He really was a hero at that event,” Justin Teilhet said.

One day after the incident, lightning killed 52-year-old Gregory Cardwell of Scottsbluff, Neb. at Rainbow Curve, a pullover in RMNP. Three others were hurt by that strike.

These were the first lightning deaths in the park since 2000, officials said.