School boy in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by lightning

A UK schoolboy has been left in a critical condition in hospital after being struck by lightning during a school football tournament.

A schoolboy and a man in his 50s were struck by lightning on Monday afternoon during a district football tournament which was being hosted at The Sele School in Hertfordshire and has left the young boy in a critical condition.

The boy, who is aged 12, was unfortunately struck during adverse weather conditions that were happening during the football tournament and was taken by ambulance services in a critical condition to hospital after being struck by lightning for further care and treatment.

School staff acted very quickly following the incident which could prove critical, as they performed CPR on the young boy after he was hit by lighting, to try and give him a better chance of surviving.

He was not a student of the school where this football tournament was taking place on Monday, instead, he was known to be a part of Chauncy School in Ware in Hertfordshire.

How is the schoolboy’s condition?

The school’s headteacher, Chris Quach has posted on Facebook a message about the young student and what had happened on her school grounds claiming that a lightning strike ‘affected several people.’

Mr Quach has been speaking to the BBC about what happened and how his staff responded in impressively quick time.

He said: “They brought him back – he was revived – his heart had stopped. The entire staff of The Sele School, the wider school community and I would like to thank the emergency services, the parents and staff who were attending the match and were so helpful, and our first aiders who did an amazing job while waiting for the emergency services to respond.

“Our good wishes and thoughts are with the people who were injured.”

Lightning strike forces ambulance services to step in

The ambulance services have also spoken about their views of the events and how they transported both of them to the relevant hospitals.

A spokesperson said: “We sent [the] East Anglian Air Ambulance, two ambulance officer vehicles, an ambulance, a BASICS (British Association for Immediate Care) vehicle and a rapid response car.

“The child was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in a critical condition and the man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital for further care. Both were conveyed by land ambulance.”

Since the pair were taken into hospital there has been no further update on their condition, with the young boy and older gentleman having their privacy and health being the utmost priority for everyone involved at the moment.