GoFundMe account set up for lightning strike victim Brendan McGowan

An online fundraising account has been created to help the family of a North Huntingdon teen who was killed by a lightning strike at Mammoth Park on Thursday.

The GoFundMe page for Brendan McGowan, 18, was started by friend Zak Lipniskis.

“I still can’t believe that this happened; no one can,” Lipniskis said Saturday.

Kaitlyn Rosensteel, 18, of Donora also was struck by the same lightning bolt and killed.

The pair, both recent high school graduates, were fishing on a peninsula near the spillway of the Mt. Pleasant Township park’s 24-acre lake at 4 p.m. Thursday when the tragedy occurred, officials said.

About $6,000 toward the $20,000 goal had been raised by more than 120 donors since McGowan’s fundraising account was established.

McGowan and Lipniskis played baseball together at Greensburg Central Catholic and Lipniskis is a good friend of McGowan’s sister. McGowan invited Lipniskis, a 2016 graduate, to his graduation party at the end of the month.

“This family’s going to be grieving for so long,” Lipniskis said.

McGowan was slated to attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall. Rosensteel, who played soccer at Ringgold High School in Washington County, recently signed to play at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

A GoFundMe page for Rosensteel has raised more than $21,000, exceeding its goal.

Family and friends of Rosensteel will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Anthony L. Massafra Funeral Home, 40 Second St. Ext., Donora. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Our Lady of the Valley, One Park Road, Donora.

Family and friends of McGowan will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the James W. Shirley Funeral Home, 176 Clay Pike, North Huntingdon. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, in Immaculate Conception Church, Irwin.