24-year-old man struck and killed by lightning last Sunday whilst on a mountain bike ride with his girlfriend in Telluride, Colorado.

The San Miguel Sheriff’s Office has released details that the mountain biker’s name was John Daniel Huisjen, who was 24 years old. Mr Huisjen was riding the East Fork Trail at Telluride near the Lizard Head wilderness area in Durango, Colorado when the freak incident occurred.

According to The Durango Herald, sometime around noon a lightning storm moved in and Mr Huisjen and his girlfriend – and several other small groups of mountain bikers – went to shelter below the tree line, when lightning hit Mr Huisjen.

Mr Huisjen’s girlfriend ran to find help and quickly found an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) who also happened to be mountain biking in the same spot. The EMT hurried to an “unresponsive, pulseless and breahtless” Mr Huisjen and started to try to resuscitate him whilst his companion called 911.

Efforts to revive Mr Huisjen went on for a considerable length of time – with bystanders helping take over CPR as well – but the efforts were unsuccessful.

San Miguel Sheriff Bill Masters commended the efforts of the EMT and the bystanders who “did everything they could for this young man”. Masters continued: “This is a horrible tragedy. Our thoughts out with his family”.