INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – There was no place Tom Braswell would rather have been Wednesday night than watching his 14-year-old son play football.
"I'm always on my boys to play hard. Be sportsmanlike. Don't ever give up," Tom explained.
That last bit of advice is something the 36 year old has had to remember since late August.
Tom works with his wife at a local wrecking company and was outside moving equipment when lightning struck him.
"I remember seeing the white flash and the lightening coming down the machine and then into my arm," said Tom.
"I heard the lightening and I heard the thunder and the guys came in and I'm like, 'What's on fire? What do you want me to see?' because they wanted me to come," said Tom's wife, Shellie.
"I always thought I'd get hit by a car, never lightening," Tom explained, saying he had towed plenty of vehicles off the interstate in terrible weather conditions.
When Tom woke up after being struck, he was in Eskenazi Hospital where he spent several days recovering.
The journey isn't over yet.
Right now, Tom can barely walk and spends most of his time in a wheelchair.
"They say I may not be able to walk the same," he explained.
That's just part of what keeps this father up at night, along with severe muscle spasms.
The medical bills just keeping coming.
"When you could lose everything you have because of a medical bill or file bankruptcy, that's not who we are. We don't want to have to do that," said Shellie.
For now though, the Braswell's are just trying to focus on nights like the one at the football game.
"We're lucky that he's still alive," said 11-year-old Dominic of his dad.
They know and so does Tom, he could very easily have not been here to enjoy it.
"At least I'm still here. My family has me and I have my family," said Tom.
A family friend started a GoFundMe page to help the family with Tom's medical bills.