Man survives lightning strike to head on camping trip

A man is lucky to be alive after being hit by a bolt of lightning during a storm on a camping trip.

Ryan Cross, 34, from Idaho, was camping with friends in Idaho City on a dirt biking trip when a huge storm rolled in.

He took shelter under a tree but was struck by a lightning bolt on his head before it exited through his back, reports the Metro.

Speaking to KTVB, Heather said: "They were riding, and it started raining and then all of a sudden it started hailing pretty heavily so they stopped.

"Ryan got off his four wheeler went under a tree to protect himself from the hail, leaned up against a tree, was looking at a map on his phone, and that is when it all happened."

He was rushed to hospital with bleeding on the brain and a large burn running through his torso. The hit was so powerful his clothes were also left in shreds and burning hot.

KTVB meteorologist Larry Gebert said the best thing to do in a storm is to find shelter or get low to the ground: "Storms grow quickly and come on you quickly in the mountains.

"Storms develop so fast and based on the ruggedness of the mountains you can't see it coming. The best thing to do in a storm, when you have no protection is to be the smallest thing out there."

In the US, the likelihood of getting hit by lightning is one in 700,000.

Heather says the long-term impact of the lightning strike is as yet unknown but that Ryan seems to be recovering well.