Firefighters were called to Grossmont High School after the report of a student who may have been struck by lightning.
Heartland Fire crews confirmed the call to the school campus at 6:11 p.m. Monday for a 14-year-old boy needing medical attention.
The initial report was that the teenager may have been struck by lightning but Heartland officials said they were not sure if this was the case.
Firefighters did not transport the teenager to a hospital.
A local television station interviewed the teenager later Monday evening who appeared on camera and described the incident as “one of the worst pains in my life.”
“I just felt this wave of electricity hit my body and knocked me down to my knees,” Dennis Tuatagaloa told KGTV.
NBC 7 reached out to the Grossmont Unified School District for more information on this matter.
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Director, Public Affairs & Legislative Relations Catherine Martin said, “Paramedics responded, conducted a patient assessment, found no injuries and released the student to his parent on scene.”
Martin also said that district safety protocols were followed “to the letter” at the school when the storm arrived.
“The coaching staff,” she said, “Prepped the team before practice began and had them leave the field immediately at the first sign of lightning.”
A fire battalion chief and a retired peace officer are members of the team’s coaching staff according to Martin.
