ASHEVILLE -- A Tennessee man says he planned to propose to his girlfriend along a North Carolina hiking trail when she was struck and killed by lightning.
Richard Butler, 30, of Knoxville tells the Asheville Citizen-Times that he took Bethany Lott to Max Patch Bald, near Asheville. He says that he wanted his 25-year-old girlfriend to think the two were only on a hike but that he had a ring in his pocket and was planning to ask her to marry him.
Heavy rain let up as the two walked toward the bald, but more bad weather returned.
Butler said Lott, who was ahead of him, turned around. "She said, 'God, baby, look how beautiful it is.' "
There were three lightning strikes. The third hit her and jumped to him.
"I was spun 180 degrees and thrown several feet back," he said. "My legs turned to Jello, my shoes were smoking, and the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire."
Butler turned around to see Lott lying on the hill.
Butler suffered third-degree burns. Paramedics declared Lott, also of Knoxville, dead at the scene.
As rescuers tried to bring Lott back to life, Butler said he crouched near her body.
"I put the ring on her finger while the EMTs were working on her," he said. "They are listing me as her fiancé in the obituaries."
