Seven of the luckiest people alive
Luck. Some believe you make your own luck in this world while others believe it is bestowed upon us. Naturally, in some instances, in order to be considered lucky you will have to have had played some part in the outcome, but more on that a little later. Let’s take a look at some individuals who have been undeniably lucky in life.
Frane Selak – death defying
Number one on the list is a chap named Frane Selak, a Croat who has been dubbed “the luckiest unluckiest man in the world” after cheating death not once but an astonishing seven times. It all began back in 1962 when Frane was travelling on a train. Unbeknownst to him, the train would shortly flip off the tracks and plummet into a freezing river. Seventeen passengers lost their lives that day, but thanks to bystanders, Frane was not one of them.
A year later, on his first (and subsequently his last) flight, the plane lost altitude and plummeted from the skies. While 19 people were killed in the tragic accident, the “luckiest unluckiest man in the world” somehow found himself flying through a malfunctioning plane door and landed on a haystack with only minor cuts and bruises.
In 1966, he was a passenger on a bus which skid off the road and into a frozen river (again). He swam safely to the shore with minor scratches, but four of his fellow passengers weren’t as lucky. Two years later, while trying to teach his son how to fire a gun, the safety somehow managed to come off and Frane shot himself in the testicles; he survived but his manhood didn’t.
In 1970 and again in 1973, he managed to get into car accidents where both times the car caught fire. Singing of the hair was all that happened! He must have laid-low for a few years after this because his next dice with death came in 1995 when he was hit by a bus in Zagreb!
His seventh brush with death came in 1996 when he miraculously managed to avoid a head-on collision with a United Nations truck on a mountain road. As a result of his quick thinking and movements, he hit a guard rail, but the rail buckled under the force of the car and Frane, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt at the time, plunged 300ft into a ravine below. And his luck didn’t end there. In 2003 and just two days after his 73rd birthday, Frane struck it lucky on the Croatian National Lottery winning $1.1million. This is what is meant by having to play a part in luck. If he hadn’t bought a ticket, he would never have won.
Elmer Sherwin – multi-millions
Second on the list is Elmer Sherwin, who found fame for landing multiple-millions in jackpot wins on more than one occasion. In 2005, the 92-year-old war veteran achieved what no other person has been able to do – he won a Megabucks jackpot not once, but twice. The then Las Vegas resident won $4.6million in 1989 by playing games, then in 2005 he made the news again after playing at the Canary in North Vegas because he managed to hit another jackpot, only this time it was worth a staggering $21.1million. Read about some other players with amazing luck at slots.info.
Anders Helstrup – meteorite madness
The skies were the limit for Anders Helstrup in 2014 when his latest skydiving escapade saw him dicing with death. Skydiving has a relative amount of danger to it but never in a million years did he expect to be chased out of the skies by a meteorite. In 2014, the action was caught on camera as a meteorite exploded some 20km above Helstrup and he was lucky to get out of that alive.
Joan R Ginther – lucky number…four
Joan R Ginther is number four on the list of lucky people, which is quite apt as she won the lottery four times. Statistics suggest we have more chance of being murdered multiple times rather than winning the lottery once, but she somehow managed to baffle scientists and win four times. She won $5.4mllion, $2million a decade later, $3million two-years later and $10million back in 2008.
Terrie Preece – pearly profit
Number five is Terrie Preece from the UK, a food and drink lover whose dreams came true after a short shopping trip to Tesco. On her grocery list was the well-known aphrodisiac known as oysters and after beating million-to-one-odds, she loves them more than ever because those 49p oysters resulted in her becoming the proud owner of a rare and highly sought-after pearl.
Michiren – Lucky Lightening
Number six sees us heading back in time to the 12th century. Michiren was a prominent Japanese monk who influenced the nation’s adaptation of Buddhism. However, not everyone was pleased with his beliefs and he was sentenced to death by beheading. But in a stroke of luck, a bolt of lightning out of the blue struck his executioners blade as he raised it to kill the monk. Talk about a last-minute reprieve!
Maarten De Jonge – travelling triumphs
Last but not least, there is Maarten De Jonge who somehow managed to cheat death twice – and within four months. His first piece of luck came when he booked a flight on the soon-to-be doomed MH17 flight (the passenger airplane that was blown from the skies over Ukraine in 2014), but he sourced cheaper flights and changed his ticket at the last-minute. He was also part of the passenger list for the MH370: the plane that went missing back in 2014 and has never been found.
The editorial unit
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