Before we start talking about possibly the world's unluckiest man, let's first ask
why people get hit by lighting.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tells us that lightning will hit the tallest
object with a positive charge from the negatively-charged cloud where it begins.
So, maybe the worst thing you could do would be to stand in a swimming pool during a thunderstorm
holding a very tall metal rod.
Lighting often hits trees, but in a wide-open space such as a golf course, it could be you.
That happened not long ago to a British woman on holiday in Turkey.
She got hit and died 12 days later from cardiac arrest.
People often do survive lightning strikes though, such as the guy we'll be talking
about today, in this episode of the Infographics Show, What Happened to The Man Who Got Hit
by Lightning 7 Times!?
Let's first ask what chance is there of being hit by lightning and what will likely
happen to you if you do get hit.
There is data available regarding exactly how many lightning deaths there are year-by-year
in each country.
According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, if you are Mexican, beware.
That data tells us that Mexico is way out in front of lightning deaths, with 223 last
time they did the count.
Thailand was second at 171 deaths, South Africa third with 150 deaths and Brazil fourth with
132 deaths.
Then there's a big drop off to Romania, in fifth place at 75 deaths.
The USA is quite high, in ninth place with 50 deaths.
Perhaps data wasn't available in many countries, but according to that report most of the world
sees no lightning strike deaths each year, but in most countries people will be hit.
If you come from the USA you have a 1 in 171,000 chance of being hit, which might be long odds
but not that long.
That is just one year, though, if you live until you are 80 and are American your chance
of being hit is around 1 in 14,600, according to the National Weather Service.
By comparison, CNBC said that the odds for winning the Powerball grand prize is about
1 in 292.2 million.
1 in 171,000 for this year might not quite give you peace of mind, and if you are Mexican
or Thai we suggest you stay off the golf course on a stormy day.
But what is the chance of instant death if you do get hit?
Well, 90 percent of folks that are unfortunate enough to be the recipient of a lightning
strike actually survive.
All is not lost, except perhaps a bit of hair and some brain function.
Yes, that's the worst part.
Lighting can carry up to one billion volts of electricity, and if that smacks you when
travelling at an average speed of 200,000 mph (300,000 kph) it's bound to have a profound
effect under the hood, so to speak.
Experts tell us that the good news is people are very, very rarely hit by a direct strike.
You might also pick up the phone and get a blast to head as the lightning travels to
you, and this is called a "contact strike", but one of those is not surprisingly super
rare too.
Most of time when people are hit by lightning what we actually mean is that the lighting
hit something and then the current travelled to you.
For instance, if the lighting hit the ground anywhere as far as 60 feet away you could
literally get the shock of your life.
It might hit the ground, travel to you, go up one leg and down another, all the while
stopping your heart and lungs from functioning.
The more power that goes through you, the more likely you are to die or suffer some
serious damage.
You might even get what's called a "side splash", which means the lightning jumps
from an object and onto you.
That object could even be your friend, which was a particularly distressing fact for the
star of today's show.
Let's say you do survive- what are the odds of coming out of it smiling?
Well, it's likely that strike will change you.
The nerve damage could have an effect on your memory, your personality, or it might give
you regular headaches or even epilepsy.
One guy who got hit told American media, "I know for a fact that people think I'm really
weird."
He was a changed man.
If that isn't bad enough, the strike itself can severely burn you.
With all this in mind, how on Earth did someone survive 7 strikes?
His name was Roy Sullivan, and he died in 1983 at the ripe old age of 71.
The former U.S park ranger has a place in the Guinness Book of Records for most hits
by lightning.
His nickname was the, "Human Lightning Conductor."
When you hear that, it's kinda funny.
It's even more amusing that many of his friends stopped hanging out with him outside
because of their perceived risk of being hit while near him.
The least funny part of the tale is that when he was lying in bed next to his fourth wife
he shot himself in the head.
That was the end of old Roy, and his 41-year old wife had to deal with the mess.
It seems nature couldn't get this guy, and he got himself in the end.
Roy was first hit in 1942, and suffered burns but no brain damage.
You see, his job meant working in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, and as we know
such places can be dangerous places to be during thunderstorms.
It wouldn't be until 1969 until he was hit for a second time, and that time he was driving
in his truck.
The lightning hit the truck and knocked poor Roy unconscious, but all he suffered were
injuries to his vanity.
The strike took his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes.
He was hit again a year later, and he just brushed that one off.
In '72 he was hit again, and again went the hair.
As you can well imagine by this point Roy was getting rather paranoid.
Let's hope he wasn't taking any of that LSD that was everywhere in those days.
He started to think that some kind of powerful force was out to get him, and so stayed away
from crowds just in case he provoked the wrath of this mighty lighting-God again and others
got hurt.
On a more practical level he started carrying around a can of water, likely a bit ruffled
by the fact he been made bald against his will on two occasions.
The hippy era had not been very loving for this man, and things were about to get even
worse.
In '73 Pink Floyd released "The Dark Side of the Moon", which is perhaps where Roy
thought he belonged.
He was hit by lighting again that year, and this time said that the cloud had definitely
been following him.
He had tried to get away, but to no avail.
He had driven from the cloud, and then run from his truck, and boom, it got him.
This time he was able to put his burning hair out.
He said about the strike, "When my ears stopped ringing, I heard something sizzling.
It was my hair on fire.
The flames were up six inches."
Roy then had a good run of three whole years of not being hit, although he still kept away
from clouds.
But on June 5th 1976 there was a particular fast cloud he apparently couldn't escape
from and it got him.
"I actually saw the lightning shoot out of the cloud this time, and it was coming
straight for me," he later said.
This time he had no can of water at hand and again he lost most of his hair.
He was hit for the last time almost exactly a year later while he was fishing.
Yep, there goes the hair again, but he also suffered more severe burns this time and the
loss of hearing in one ear.
On his way back to the car he was confronted by a bear, if things weren't bad enough.
That was his final hit, although his wife also got one when she was with him.
She'd been hanging out the washing with Roy nearby, but this time the lightning God
chose the spouse.
Now, all this sounds kind of sketchy.
Was Roy looking for attention?
Did he have a habit of self-harm by setting fire to his hair?
He was always alone when hit, so we may wonder if he really had been doing too many drugs
or was just a bit crazy.
But all his hits were confirmed by the superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, R. Taylor Hoskins.
What's more surprising than merely surviving is the fact he didn't seem to suffer any
long-term mental injuries.
At the same time, the fact he blew his brains out could mean he wasn't exactly in the
best frame of mind.
You might now be thinking, what are the odds of being hit seven times.
Well, it works out at 4.15 in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
Maybe Roy should have played the lottery.
What's the luckiest or unluckiest thing that's ever happened to you!
Let us know in the comments!
Also be sure to check out our other video called Horrible Things That Will Happen in
2018!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!
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