GULF SHORES, Ala. -- A Dexter family is safe and consider themselves "very lucky" after being struck by lightning on a Gulf Shores beach late Tuesday morning, the Daily Statesman newspaper reported.

The family of Tom and Debbie Thrower were on the beach at about 11 a.m. Tuesday when a bolt of lightning struck a beach chair that their daughter, Brooke, 20, had occupied only seconds before.

"Brooke had just jumped out of the chair to have a picture made with her dad," a family member told The Statesman this morning, "when a bolt of lightning struck the chair."

The lightning knocked Tom, his son, Marc, and Brooke Thrower, along with Brittany Bedford, a guest of the family on the trip, to the ground.

Debbie Thrower was reportedly standing a distance away from the rest of the family when the lightning hit and saw them knocked to the sand.

"Debbie was not hurt, but was terrified after seeing the family hit," said Tom Thrower's mother Wednesday morning.

Tom and his son, Marc, 23, bore the brunt of the strike, with Tom taking the worst hit. It was later assumed by authorities that when the bolt of lightning struck the chair, it then ricocheted off and struck the father and son. Marc Thrower was hit in the leg and his father on the face.

According to accounts, Tom Thrower was not breathing, had turned blue, and was bleeding from the face when 911 was called by a witness to the strike. His face and ears had considerable swelling.

Brittany Bedford and Brooke Thrower were not directly hit by the lightning, according the family, but were both jolted and slammed to the ground by the impact of the strike.

Tom and Marc Thrower were taken by ambulance to an Orange Beach, Ala., hospital, where they were treated for their injuries. Marc was released from the hospital in the afternoon hours, and Tom was kept for further observation until Tuesday night. All returned to their rented condominium on the beach late Tuesday.

The family is expected back in Dexter this week.