A rodeo athlete and his horse were killed this month when both were struck by lightning in rural Nebraska while the man was checking cattle, according to officials and a fundraiser.
Terrel Vineyard, 27, was riding a horse when he was struck June 21 north of Oshkosh, the Garden County District Attorney’s office said in a statement to the NBC affiliate. KNOP of North Platte.
Officials arrived after receiving a call about the strike shortly after 2 p.m. and found Vineyard dead, the statement said.
An autopsy confirmed that the Vineyard was struck by lightning, the attorney’s office said.
He National Lightning Safety Council said in a death registry that the Vineyard was one of six lightning deaths in the United States this year and the only one in Nebraska.
Vineyard was “checking livestock” in an open area when he was killed, the council said.
Of 223 lightning deaths in the US between 2013 and 2022, Nebraska accounted for zero deaths, according to the council.
The National Weather Service said there was a 30% chance of thunderstorms on the 21st, with that chance increasing to 90% overnight.
Vineyard and his wife tied the knot earlier this year with their three daughters in attendance, according to a GoFundMe for their family, which was verified by the crowdfunding site.
In a post on her Facebook, which was verified by NBC News, Stacey Vineyard thanked the community that had supported her family since her husband’s death.
“On June 27, 2023, we buried our husband, son, and brother,” she wrote. “It has truly been humbling to receive the love that has been shown for Terrel and for all of us.”
Vineyard grew up on Nebraska ranches and learned to round up cattle when he was 6 years old, according to a GoFundMe for his family, which was verified by the crowdfunding site.
He attended Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the spur of a rodeo scholarship, according to the page.
After school, he and his steed at the time, Shorty, qualified three times for the World Series of Team Pitching in Las Vegas, according to the fundraiser. He was saying that he bought Dose, the horse he rode on June 21, a few years ago.
“Terrel and Dose went off to greener pastures together: Terrel with his rope in hand,” the page says.
