NATIONWIDE — Data from National Geographic shows 400 people in the U.S. survive lightning strikes each year.

Several Texas families know those odds firsthand. Ian McLain was 9 years old on a family trip to Boulder, but a strike changed his life forever.

“I used to be able to do everything like see and read and write but now it’s hard being able to do that stuff now,” he says.

What can happen when struck?

  • Eyesight or hearing affects like blindness or ruptured eardrum due thunder/flash from the lightning.
  • Cardiac arrest. If a person is unresponsive after being struck, it's urgent they get CPR immediately.
  • Serious burns. Commonly look like Lichtenberg figures, or lines which are long, wavy burns that often appear on someone temporarily after receiving a massive electric shock.
  • Respiratory arrest from not breathing.
  • Longterm effects on the brain, including potential memory loss, seizures, muscle spasms or paralysis.
  • Potential cataracts in the eyes from the bright flash.

McLain, 26, doesn’t remember being struck but those around him do.

“There was a loud boom. My husband who is 6 foot 4 inches was on the ground. My daughters were on the ground. And it looked like a war zone,” says his mother Kris McLain.

“He wasn’t smashed up or anything, it was all his brain. He’s walking now, when he came out of the coma he couldn’t even perceive light,” she says.

Little by little, the journey toward recovery moves forward. The family says that while they don't feat lightning, they’ve come to respect the raw power of Mother Nature.

How to avoid?

“My advice is if you hear any rumblings — I just learned that there’s a lightning app and WeatherBug app that can tell you where lightning is — take heed,” says Kris.

Doctors say the some of the more common places people are struck are on golf courses or out on the water.

To prevent being struck by lightning, people should seek shelter in an enclosed space at the first sign of a thunderstorm. Inside is best, but cars are the next safest option. Standing under trees or tall pavilions is not safe.

While the journey hasn’t been easy, a support group organized by Hope 4 Minds, makes it easier for families affected by brain injury to forge connections.

Some statistics show 1 in 700,000 people have or will be struck by lightning.

Then 10-year-old Alex Hermann's soccer practice near Bee Cave, Texas, was cut short.

“We saw that his cleats had been blown off his feet. Almost like he was steam, or smoke, from where he was laying,” says his father Roger Hermann.

While Alex survived the strike he’s confined to a wheelchair.

“Pretty much everything I’ve had to learn to do again. Reading, writing. My main goal is just to be able to walk again and not have to be in a wheelchair,” says Alex.

The National Weather Service shows that on average 30 people have died per year over the last ten years because of lightning strikes.

Hope 4 Minds recommends the WeatherBug app with spark alert before heading out the door.