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© The Daily MailBethany Lott was killed by lightning while hiking in North Carolina - just minutes before her boyfriend proposed
A grieving fiancé has spoken of his grief after his girlfriend was struck and killed by lightning as he was about to propose.

Richard Butler was able to slip the engagement ring on his girlfriend's finger as paramedics battled to save her life.

But they were unable to save 25-year-old Bethany Lott, who had been struck twice by bolts of lightning as she hiked with her boyfriend in the mountains of North Carolina.

Mr Butler, who suffered burns in the strike, said he had been minutes away from proposing to his girlfriend of a year when tragedy struck.

He said: 'The lightning came on quick, a matter of a minute.

'Her final words, she turned and looked at me and said: "Baby, look, isn't it so beautiful."'

Mr Butler said his girlfriend had no idea he was about to propose as they set out for a walk in a mountainous area near Asheville, North Carolina, called Max Patch Bald.

He said the weather was fine as they set out on the three-mile hike to the summit.

As the couple, from Knoxville, Tennessee, walked towards the top of the peak they were hit by three lightning strikes.

Ms Lott was thrown off her feet while Butler said his walking shoes caught fire.

'I was spun 180 degrees and thrown several feet back,' he said.

'My legs turned to jelly, my shoes were smoking and the bottom of my feet felt like they were on fire.

'She didn't say anything, and I turned around and she was laying a few feet away, and I crawled to her.

'I did CPR for probably 15 minutes and the whole time was trying her cell phone, but I couldn't get anything out.'

Mr Butler said he tried to drag his girlfriend down the hill but the lightning strike had left him too weak.

He ran to his car and drove to the nearest house to raise the alarm. Paramedics also responded to the scene and battled to save Ms Lott.

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© The Daily MailButler wrote: 'Her name was Bethany Lott but she wanted to be Bethany Butler. She was the most vibrant, amazing person I've ever known.'
But as an hour had elapsed from the time of the strike she was already dead.

Mr Butler said the paramedics allowed him to kneel by his girlfriend's body and slip the engagement ring on her finger.

He said Lott had wanted to take him to Max Patch since they first started dating.

'She asked me about a week ago if I wanted to go up there, and I said yes,' he said.

'She told me she would like to get married there.'

Ms Lott had hoped to become a Park Ranger after completing college.

In an email to the local paper in Asheville, Mr Butler spoke about his fiancée.

He said: 'I wanted to let the world know a few things. The woman in this story was about ten minutes from becoming my fiancée.

'Her name was Bethany Lott but she wanted to be Bethany Butler. She was the most vibrant, amazing person I've ever known.

'I have never imagined a kinder soul or a bigger heart.'