Three people struck by lightning Wednesday in Glacier National Park are recovering at Kalispell Regional Medical Center from their injuries, but they have no memory of what happened to them, the father of one of the victims said Thursday.

“My son is the one with the most memory,” Kalispell resident Kent Heitmann said. “The other two are having trouble even knowing what happened. They’re still having some memory issues from the electricity.” 

His son Travis, 23, of Kalispell and a friend, Missoula resident Kensey Leishman, 23, were hiking on the St. Mary Falls Trail with a 10-year-old Kalispell boy whom Travis mentors. They were returning from a hike to Virginia Falls.

“They were hiking and they were headed back toward the car and they saw the storm coming in,” Heitmann said. “Travis said, ‘We’d better get back to the car,’ and that’s the last thing they can remember.”

Heitmann said park employees told him they believe the three were lying unconscious for about 15 minutes before they were found by other hikers who began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. 

“One of the park employees said when she showed up, my son was pretty blue,” he said.

“We were lucky because a doctor ended up being there,” he added.

The incident occurred about three-quarters of a mile from the trailhead on Going-to-the-Sun Road east of Logan Pass, making for a protracted rescue operation to get the victims out. 

The lightning incident was first reported at about 4:30 p.m. and Heitmann said the three didn’t arrive at Kalispell Regional Medical Center until about 8 or 8:30 p.m.

Heitmann said the three were not directly hit by the lightning. 

“There were no entry or exit wounds. It was more like a flash hit they took. They are bruised up from crumpling to the ground,” he said.

Heitmann said his son and the boy are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit while Leishman is in a regular hospital room. 

The three victims are expected to remain in the hospital for several days.

Hospital spokesman Jim Oliverson said Thursday the three victims are in serious but stable condition. He could not comment on the nature of their injuries, other than saying a “typical manifestation of it is they are confused. That’s primarily the result of this kind of injury.”

Heitmann said “They’re hurting a lot,” describing how the three have experienced extreme fatigue and have been sleeping a lot.

A host of Glacier Park personnel responded to the incident from both sides of the park, along with the Glacier County Sheriff’s Office. The three victims were carried to the trailhead on litters and Sun Road was temporarily closed to allow the ALERT helicopter to land. 

The Mercy Flight helicopter from Great Falls had been requested but could not fly because of weather.

ALERT flew the boy to the Kalispell hospital while Glacier County Ambulance transported the two adults by ground. At one point, ALERT was called back to meet the ambulance and pick up Travis Heitmann because he “needed to get to the hospital quicker,” Heitmann said.

Glacier Park spokeswoman Denise Germann said on Thursday that visitors who arrived at the St. Mary Visitor Center soon after the incident reported seeing lightning strikes.

“They remember very vividly seeing what looked like two lightning strikes” in the vicinity of the incident, Germann said.

“It was a quick-moving storm, maybe 10 to 15 minutes of rain,” Germann said.

She said the visitors who initially helped the victims were critical.

“Some bystanders performed CPR, which was a life-saving measure,” she said.

Hospital Nursing Supervisor Tracy Keller said lightning-strike victims can suffer burns, concussive effects or neuro-electrical effects on the heart, brain or other organs.

“In this case, there isn’t necessarily burns, just electrical,” she said. “They were close enough to suffer the ramifications of that electrical field ... They weren’t directly hit.”

Travis Heitmann works at Summit Medical and Youth Dynamics in Kalispell.

Leishman is a nurse at Community Medical Center in Missoula, according to the Missoulian.

The lightning strike likely came from the severe storm system that pounded the Flathead Valley with rain and hail about an hour earlier. That storm moved off to the northeast toward Glacier Park.

St. Mary Falls is a popular destination for a short hike. The falls are less than a mile from Going-to-the-Sun Road. Virginia Falls are a half mile beyond St. Mary Falls.

The trailhead is about 11 miles from the St. Mary Entrance to Glacier National Park.

The Glacier Park incident was one of three instances of lightning injuries in two days, according to The Associated Press.

On Thursday, a 65-year-old woman was injured by lightning near a trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. And in Wellington, Colo., nine people working at a farm were hit by lightning. Two of them were critically injured.

 Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.