STAR-TELEGRAM/TOM PENNINGTON
Ernie Elbert, left, and Zach O'Neal both
survived being struck by lightning while in Colorado last summer. The
pair's clothing was shredded by the lightning strike.
FORT WORTH -- More than six months ago, Ernie Elbert and Zach O'Neal survived being struck by lightning while hiking in Colorado.
Since then, Elbert, 17, of Paschal High School, and O'Neal, 15, an Aledo High student, have recounted the experience numerous times, including to the Star-Telegram: How the lightning melted O'Neal's clothes. How Elbert used CPR to resuscitate O'Neal.
How rescuers got them off the mountain.
Last week, they told their tale to Oprah Winfrey in Chicago.
The show will air at 4 p.m. today on WFAA/Channel 8 and again at 8 p.m. on KFWD/Channel 52.
On Tuesday, the Star-Telegram caught up with the teenagers to discuss their upcoming time in the spotlight.
Question: How did you end up on Oprah?
Ernie: They called and said they were going to do a survivor episode. They had as a special guest Bear, the guy on the [Discovery] show Man vs. Wild. They found us on the Internet.
Q: How was the trip?
Ernie: Great.
They flew us up and put our families in a nice hotel for two days.
Zach: We ate Chicago hot dogs, had deep-dish pizza.
The day of the show, they picked us up at 7 in the morning in a limo.
Q: What was the show like?
Ernie: Well, they put our families in a green room and did our makeup and stuff. Then they put [our families] in the audience and took us to another green room with other people on the show. There were some people who survived an avalanche.
Zach: There was also a guy who survived a plane crash. We watched the show on a TV until our turn. We were No. 3.
Q: What's Oprah like?
Ernie: We never saw her before or after the show, but, while were on the show, she was really nice.
Q: Ever get tired of telling the story?
Ernie: Sometimes. But it's cool when you tell someone the story and -- even though you've told it so many times it's less interesting to you -- then you see the glow on their faces, and they're all excited.
Zach: They go 'That's awesome!'
When school started, we pretty much got mobbed. I won a free iPod from my dentist because they have a contest for whoever came back with the best story from the summer.
Q: Do you have scars?
Zach: I've got a big scar on my right foot and on my arm. One on my eyebrow. That's where [the lightning] just kind of blew out. ... I'm pretty much deaf in my left ear. I've gotten used to it.
Q: Do you get nervous in thunderstorms?
Ernie: Oh, I had a few weird lightning dreams.
I wake up and go back to sleep.
Zach: Not really.
Q: Anything else you want to say?
Ernie: We wanted to do this on Oprah, but time was cut short. We thank St. Mary Corwin Hospital, Flight for Life [the hospital ambulance that transported O'Neal] and the La Veta [Colorado] Fire Department. They helped save us.
