UPDATE:
I talked to Tim this morning and he is home and doing well. He is still in a lot of pain. Please continue to pray for the family of the boy that was killed. There are lots of news stories out right now saying how great a student this boy was and from what Tim said they are not at all
embellished. Also pray for the school it is a very difficult way to start a new school year.
Jason
8/31/07 8:00am
As many of you have heard already one of my best friends Tim Blakeney was hit by lighting yesterday while coaching his soccer team. One of his players did not survive the accident and Tim is in the hospital. From what I have heard the rest of the team is fine. Let our thoughts and prayers go out to the school and the parents of this teen right now. I will keep you updated on here if I hear anything.
Jason
Here is the story from the local paper in Spartanburg...
Lightning strike kills Oakbrook Prep senior
Students huddle in the background as workers clear a field at Oakbrook Preparatory School Wednesday afternoon after a lightning strike killed the school's student body president and injured the soccer coach.
Rain mingled with tears as students and faculty at Oakbrook Preparatory School mourned the death of the school's student body president.
Alexander Holland Holbein, 17, of 400 Parkdale Drive, was fatally struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon, just one day shy of his 18th birthday.
"Our school lost a tremendous student leader today," said Steve Smith, the school's director. "Our prayers are with the Holbein family, and we want everyone everywhere lifting up the family."
According to witnesses, Holbein, a senior at the school, was warming up for soccer practice with Tim Blakeney, the school's soccer coach, when the lightning struck. Blakeney was also injured and is in fair condition at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, said Chad Lawson, spokesman for the hospital.
"We also want to think tonight about the Blakeney family and pray for him as he is recovering," Smith said. "We will all take time to recover, but it will happen. Alex was a tremendous influence and we will miss his physical presence, but his legacy will carry forward."
Holbein suffered burns and irreversible brain injury from the fatal strike and died at the hospital, said Robin Forrest, chief investigator with the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office.
Forrest said the jolt of electricity entered Holbein's head and then exited through his feet around3:30 p.m. The autopsy is scheduled for today.
Holbein's family was unavailable for comment Wednesday night, but friends and co-workers offered their tributes.
About six weeks ago, Holbein began working at Yaggie Cleaners on East Main Street. Bob Yaggie, who owns the business, said he hired the young man at the recommendation of a teenage employee who was going off to college.
"He was just a really great kid. He was easygoing. He seemed to be pretty smart - from what I understand, he was a straight-A student," Yaggie said. "He was real friendly with the customers. I was really glad to have him. I would consider him an asset."
'Very respectful'
Yaggie called Holbein "very respectful," "one in a million," and "not like your typical teenager today."
"It'll take a long time to ever forget him," he said.
Holbein had been going to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church for the last year or so. This spring, he was among a small group that went from Spartanburg to Aiken as a staff member for Happening, a weekend-long faith renewal event for young people.
Louise Rambo, 56, was on the staff, too, and said she and Holbein got to know each other during the time they spent there. She described Holbein as a young man of "quiet determination, very well-grounded in his faith."
"I didn't realize that until I spent some time with him," Rambo said. "So many high school kids are flighty and silly about faith, but he wasn't."
An hour after the accident, disbelief and grief shadowed the faces of students and faculty as they clustered in the foyer opposite the soccer field. Family members were still frantically trying to contact one another, and about 5 p.m., a woman pulled into the parking lot, relief flooding her face when she recognized a young man picking up a bag of soccer balls off the field. She thrust a cell phone at him, saying she had his mom on the phone, and his bravado faded into tears as he reiterated to his mother over and over again that he was OK.
Amanda Ridley Ledbetter, a spokeswoman for the school, said there would be church counselors and bereavement specialists at the school today to help students deal with their grief over Holbein's death.
Oakbrook is an independent, private Christian school that has about 450 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and was founded 15 years ago.
"There are times when faith is tested beyond belief, and this is one of those times," Smith said. "The Oakbrook family will carry forward by looking for the strength of God to carry them through."
No storm warnings or watches
Blair Holloway, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said there were no thunderstorm warnings or watches for this area Wednesday afternoon.
Vince DeCarlo, also a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said there were two fatalities in Spartanburg County last year due to lightning strikes. There have been 13 fatalities in South Carolina due to lightning strikes since 1997, the fourth-highest incidence in the U.S. DeCarlo said 6 percent of all lightning strikes are fatal.
