A Colorado rancher and 37 cattle were struck by lightning and killed during Memorial Day weekend, according to multiple reports.
Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding his cattle by tossing hay from the back of a trailer when he was struck, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) said.
County dispatchers had received a call at 2:08 p.m. Saturday and responded to a ranch in Rand, Colorado, about 80 miles northwest of Denver.
Bystanders and first responders provided life-saving efforts, but Morgan died at the scene.
"Our deepest condolences go out to family and friends during this difficult time," JCSO said in a release, KDVR reported.
A Facebook post from His Cavvy Foundation, a nonprofit helping ranchers with serious medical issues, said the strike killed 34 cows and 3 calves that surrounded Morgan.
The strike knocked 100 or so cows and calves standing around the trailer off their feet, said George Crocket, coroner for the rural county in far northern Colorado, The Colorado Sun reported.
"The cattle did not get back up," Crocket said of the deceased animals. "As best I can tell, it hit him [Morgan] on the trailer. The cattle were bunched up around the trailer and it hit them all."
At the time of the strike, Morgan's father-in-law was driving a tractor hooked to the trailer when the lightning struck, and Morgan's wife was nearby, leading horses toward a horse trailer to load them.
Morgan's wife, Niki, who was approximately 200 feet away from her husband when the lightning bolt struck, was knocked off her horse, according to the His Cavvy Foundation post.
The family members had just finished branding day, a spring event typically attended by neighbors and friends who help rope and hold calves for branding.
Morgan is survived by his wife and a 17-year-old daughter, according to the His Cavvy Foundation post.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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