Struck by Lightning
Have you ever felt that you are the luckiest person ever? Have you ever felt extremely unfortunate? Since it's Friday, it's probable that you feel miserable right now but have no worries because Monday is only three days away. I know that many people (not me) have felt moments where they felt like the unluckiest person in history like they've been struck by lightning multiple times. But lightning never strikes twice right?
If you were Roy Cleveland Sullivan, you would have been literally hit by lightning seven times. As a result he received nicknames like "Human Lightning Conductor" and "Human Lightning Rod". He was at risk to so many strikes because he was a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park. The odds for an average person to be hit by seven lightning bolts in a 80 year lifetime is 1 in 2.19E24. This number doesn't include survival after being struck and was calculated using more "optimistic" probability numbers! Compare this to 1 in 9.22E18 for a perfect NCAA bracket or 1 in 1.75E8 for winning Powerball.
Here is Roy Sullivan's Wikipedia page if you would like to read more about him.
Here are some highlights:
Roy was sadden by the fact that people avoided him in fear of being hit by lightning. His wife was even hit by lightning when hanging clothes in their backyard while Roy was nearby (didn't get hit at the time).
The seven strikes were verified by doctors but he recalled being struck by lightning as a child which couldn't be proven.
He got struck by lightning while he in his truck (extremely unlikely since vehicles are like a Faraday cage) after the lightning was deflected into an open Window by a tree.
On his last hit, he was struck by lightning while fishing. Then a bear tried to steal trout from his fishing line but he struck the best with a tree branch (he claimed it was the 22nd occurrence of striking a bear with a stick)
He died from a self inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 71 over an unrequited love.
So if you think you're unlucky, think again. What a way to get into the book of Guinness World Records...
Maybe he should have been named Raiden...
