I took a laser zap straight in the right eye once, boy did it hurt for 30 seconds, but as far as I can tell there was no permanent damage.
Fortunately I was not flying but rather riding a push bike in the middle of the day on a newly built freeway that hadn't opened. I pulled up to a gantry and started looking at the overhead sensors that were installed, then I got zapped. I was wearing sunglasses but I don't know if they helped. With the sharp pain that ensued I immediately dropped the bike and walked to the kerbside taking off my glasses and rubbing my right eye with my hand. If I were flying a helicopter I probably would have lost control from the shock and pain rather than being down one good eye. Vision in the affected eye was cloudy but recovered in 30 seconds to about 95%. There was only minor annoying pain in that eye for the rest of the day and all symptoms had disappeared the next day.
This incident was my own fault as I was probably trespassing in the eyes of the law
(sorry).
Thought I'd share this.