FOR MANY LIGHTNING VICTIMS, the psychological recovery presents the biggest challenge. According to Dr. Nelson Hendler, the clinical director of Stevenson, Maryland's Mensana Clinic—and one of the few U.S. doctors specializing in lightning's long-term effects on the body—dozens of symptoms can develop after a strike, including sleep apnea, short-term-memory loss, uncontrolled rage, and personality changes.

The problems can be so debilitating—and are so often misunderstood—that victims have formed a support group, Lightning Strike & Electric Shock Survivors International. At one of the group's recent gatherings in Orlando, Florida, Raúl E. Damas, a 62-year-old runner and rock climber from Miami Beach, Florida, described the post-traumatic stress he went through and the struggle to put his life back together after he got hit while jogging in New Jersey in 2000. Others recounted their problems with worsening memory loss, a side effect of chronically interrupted sleep cycles.

In the aftermath of his lightning strike, Liberal was agitated and fearful, and his short-term memory was fried. He suffered fits of rage and depression, and when he returned home two months following the accident, he had trouble at work—his mind couldn't stay on task. "It put a lot of stress on my marriage," says Liberal, who recently moved with his family to Layton, Utah. "My wife, Jody, had to take care of a new baby—and me." Liberal used exercise and counseling to confront the emotional problems, but his short-term memory still hasn't recovered.

Looking back, Liberal concedes that his climbing team was on the mountain too late that fateful July day, though he doesn't blame anyone for what happened. He and his friends knew they'd gotten a late start, hitting Friction Pitch in the early afternoon—prime lightning time. "We made a series of decisions with the best intentions," he says. "People are quick to judge."