Posted on 03/22/2021 12:06:57 PM PDT by Red Badger
Katherine Diaz -- one of El Salvador's top surfers -- died on Friday after she was hit in a lightning strike during a training session near her home.
The 22-year-old rising star -- who had been gunning to compete for El Salvador at the Olympics in Tokyo -- was surfing at a spot called El Tunco when the lightning storm hit.
Katherine's uncle Beto Diaz told a local media outlet his niece had gone to hug a friend she spotted at the surf spot when lightening struck.
"She, the friend, was thrown by the force of the lightening strike too, the board threw me back. Katherine died instantly."
Emergency personnel reportedly raced to the scene and scrambled to revive Diaz ... but it was too late.
Diaz was a rising star in the sport and beloved by the surf community in El Salvador.
She was expected to compete in the ISA World Surf Games in May -- the event is a qualifier for Olympics in Tokyo.
The International Surfing Association issued a statement on her death ... saying, "It is with a heavy heart that the ISA has learned about the passing of El Salvador’s Katherine Diaz."
"Katherine embodied the joy and energy that make surfing so special and dear to us all, as a global ambassador of the sport. She excelled at the international competition level, representing her country with pride at both the ISA World Surfing Games and ISA World Junior Surfing Championship."
"We send our heartfelt condolences to Katherine’s family, the surfers of El Salvador, and to all those in the international surfing community whose lives she touched."
"We will never forget you."
RIP.
(Thats free BTW)
I didn’t post it. I was responding to your complaint.
That post is going to get a lot of resistance.
Yes, of course. One does not survive a bolt of lightning to one’s temple.
I was OBVIOUSLY interested, or I wouldn’t have posted...sheesh.
Try to find one :)
Stupid should hurt; Darwin, etc.
Nothing about the weather report?.
And an editor. It's "lightning" not "lightening."
Sheesh. Journalism is a lost art.
Most likely. I’ve seen clear-air lightning way north along the semi-tropic north Gulf of Mexico.
Was there a storm in the area?
a little of both plus a snowmobile run to the bar for more beer
Lightning scored her as a 1.
I live in South Jersey, we had a case where a guy was struck by lightning and died. Weird thing is his dad was killed by a lightning strike when he was a boy. Even weirder..during the thunderstorm his friends mentioned they should get out of the yard.. He told them, God wouldn’t do it again to me.
Three summers ago a bolt of lightning hit the bare ground in my back yard here in the mountains of N. Idaho. THAT was freaky! I’ve seen bare ground strikes elsewhere in Idaho too. I wonder if there are iron rich rocks in those spots?
Olympics.. surfing?!
I’ve never snow skied, but I have friends that do. They do not like ‘snowboarders’ either...................
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