ONLY ON ABC-7: Las Cruces lightning strike survivor attends safety conference

Hunter Keffer, 13, has loving support from many friends and family. On Monday, he attended a special lightning safety conference at New Mexico State University to find out how Mother Nature acted the day he was struck by lightning, and what can be done in the future to prevent such tragedies from happening.

“I don’t remember anything about the day. All I remember is running and then waking up in the hospital,” Keffer said.

Back in August, the Picacho Middle School football team was running inside the gym as a storm approached. A bolt of lightning hit the football field, bringing a group of students, parents and coaches to the ground. Three people were hospitalized, according to a Las Cruces Public Schools spokeswoman.

“I’m feeling a lot better than the day I got out of the hospital,” Keffer said. “I have a lot of lower back and muscles, back pain and cramps.” He has a hard time sitting or standing still for long periods of time now. The teenager went into cardiac arrest twice and was put on life support.

Terry Souza, the CEO of EMP Solutions, has come from out of state with what he promises can prevent similar tragedies from happening again. The device is called a PDCE lightning suppressor. Souza said his company has offered to donate two to Picacho Middle School, but LCPS has yet to accept the suppressors.

“Our facts speak for themselves. The company’s been in existence for 10 years without one strike to protecting the Panama Canal, for example, some of the largest ships, ports in the world, without incident,” Souza said.

Keffer is grateful people are trying to stop what happened to him from happening to anyone else.

“It makes me want to strive to look forward to things in life and there’s more to life than what happened on that football field,” Keffer said.

In order for the school district to accept the suppressors, the district spokeswoman said it needs to be approved by the school board.

“We are determining whether there are costs that go beyond the initial gift that would have to be incurred,” Jo Galvn, Director of Communications and Policy Development for LCPS, said. “Any recurring costs need to be known before we bring such an offer to the school board. In the meantime, the district is continuing to use the lightning detection we have in place, use of the weather bug and ending practice or play when lightning is detected 10 miles or less away.”