Lightning strike survivor describes frightening ordeal

NAMPA - Ryan Cross is back home and recovering after getting struck in the head by lightning over the Memorial Day weekend.

Cross was camping and four-wheeling with two other friends north of Idaho City when a storm suddenly rolled in on top of them.

His wife, Heather Cross, says it's a miracle he survived. Ryan says he is just grateful to be alive.

"I am relieved to be moving forward," he said.

KTVB caught up with him in the comfort of his home with his wife by his side Wednesday. But Ryan says describing how he feels now is hard to put into words.

"It's a weird feeling," he said. "It's so weird, just how off kilter I feel, it's almost.... I don't know."

As he tries to find the words, he says what he notices most is his arms and hands feel numb from what doctors believe is some nerve damage.

"It's like when you are sitting on your hand, you are sleeping on your arm and that tingly numbness," he said.

Cross uses an oxygen tank to keep his heart levels up and he feels pain in the back of his head where the bolt entered and on his backside, where the bolt exited his body.

And his memory of the strike? That is mostly gone.

"It was sunny out Saturday and I could see the clouds starting to form," he said. "But then it started hailing and that is the last thing I remember honestly."

Friend and coworker, Mark Hamren, was with Cross and another man, Brian Adamson, that day.

Hamren was also hit indirectly by the bolt in the leg and all men were knocked unconscious for a short period of time. He remembers exactly how it felt.

"I remember when my hearing came back, I realized I was screaming," said Hamren. "Just intense. You just feel really hot. If you sleep on your arm and your arm is dead it just feels like that all over your body, but really hot."

After the two men recovered from the bolt themselves, they worked to get Cross help.

"I remember looking back at Ryan and he was actually still standing up, but he was smoking from the front of the jacket," said Hamren.

Hamren said they carried him back down a road, broke the window out of an SUV and put Cross in the vehicle to keep him out of the elements until they could contact help.

Long term, Heather says the outlook on recovery is still unknown.

"When people are looking at him right now, they are thinking 'oh my gosh,' he is better, he is good to go and what they are not seeing is the pain he is going through every day. The memory lapses that he is going through," she said. "Doctors aren't sure when or if he will fully recover."

But she says he is determined to do so and eventually get back out in the Idaho mountains to continue to enjoy something he loves so much.

"I love being outdoors. I would do it every day if I could," Ryan said.

He knows he survived it for a reason, but says he isn't quite sure still why.

"I have got two kids to take care of, a beautiful wife so I have got to be here there is a reason," he said. "Very grateful to be here."

Also, the burns on Ryan's chest are healing. Doctors said they had never seen such intense burns quite like that before.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Ryan's medical expenses. If you would like to help, click here.