Teen Dies Weeks After Being Struck By Lightning In St. Pete: Family

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A 16-year-old girl who was struck by lightning in St. Petersburg last month has died from her injuries, her family wrote Monday in a GoFundMe update.

Ashley King and three friends, caught in a storm, were standing under a banyan tree at 3rd Avenue NE and Beach Drive NE when they were struck by lightning.

She went into cardiac arrest after the lightning strike, WTSP reported. Her pulse returned as an ambulance brought her to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Her friends, two teenage boys and another teenage girl, were hospitalized with burns and other injuries, reports said.

“It had become clear over the past few days that the injuries Ashley suffered were too great to overcome,” her aunt wrote on GoFundMe. “Fight as she did, we are deeply saddened to share that our girl couldn’t make it back to be with us, in this life. Every moment of her too short time with us lightened our hearts and made the world feel radiant. Her family and friends will forever hold her memory close and strive to share her passion for life with others in her name.”

As of Monday, the GoFundMe raised more than $24,000 of a $30,000 goal. The money will be used for Ashley’s medical expenses.