911 Calls Reporting Las Cruces Middle School Football Players Hit by Lightning Released

Audio recordings of 911 calls made in connection with the lightning strike that sent five eighth-grade Las Cruces football players and one adult coach to the hospital have been released.

The emergency calls are providing a look inside the frantic scene after a bolt of lightning struck the practice field at Picacho Middle School, and then, moments later, 13-year-old Hunter Keffer as he and his teammates were heading indoors after practice had been called off because of the weather.

Keffer, who the tapes reveal had to be resuscitated by parents before EMS arrived, is the only one of those injured who remains hospitalized. His parents said late last week via a statement that he is "slowly making improvements and getting better every day…and is working very hard to get well."

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports the team resumed practice this week and will play its first game of the season on Saturday, September 2.