7/08/09 La Pine
 
by Ariel Wesler
 
These are the images seconds before 14-year old Austin Melton of La Pine is struck by lightning in the La Pine High School parking lot.  The blue arrow shows where Austin is walking.  If you watch closely, you see a quick white flash--suddenly Austin falls to the ground. In the bottom right hand corner, two people immediately run to help.  The bolt hit Austin on the right side of his head and shot out through the bottom of his right foot.  That's the last thing he remembers.
 
47 seconds later, paramedics arrive on scene.  Austin suffered some blurry vision in his right eye and hearing loss in his right ear, but has since recovered--leaving the hospital just 48 hours after the incident.  Wednesday night, he saw the footage for the first time.
 
"Wow, that's crazy," he said.
 
His father, Chuck, had seen the video before and says its still powerful.
 
"I was just overwhelmed with the actual footage of seeing what looks like a stick figure, but knowing it's my child," Chuck said.
 
You can see what appears to be two shadowy figures--become one--as a spiritual person, Austin's father calls it a sign from above.
 
"Immediately following is when the lightning bolt hit him, so it just seems to me like an angel is saying 'I'm going to take this one for you.'" Chuck said.
 
Angel or not. . .Austin is enjoying his summer with friends and feels as if the whole experience is far behind him, except for some occasional pain.
 
"Every now and then it hurts in my arm a little bit," Austin said.
 
 
"When we had those storms here last week, he could feel it," Chuck said.  "Of course, he went inside."
 
Since he first heard the dreaded news June 3rd, he's had a lot of time to reflect and feels like the most blessed dad in the world.
 
"I just like to tell everybody thank you for having us in your prayers and to know that because of that my son's alive."
 
The Bend-La Pine School District refused to release the video, citing educational privacy rights, but courts ruled against the district--ordering it to release the footage from its surveillance camera.