According to statistics, the probability of lightning striking a person is 1 in 600,000. However, do not forget that nature is so unpredictable that some of its phenomena cannot be predicted and calculated for sure. Roy Cleveland Sullivan, the ranger of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, has become a living refutation of dry numbers. Contrary to all theories and calculations, lightning struck him 7 times, and each time the forester survived.
Roy was struck by lightning for the first time in 1942. The 30-year-old huntsman decided to hide from the impending thunderstorm in a newly built wooden fire tower without a lightning rod. The lightning bolt struck directly into the structure, but shortly before the impact, Roy managed to run out of the tower. The second blow hit the caretaker's leg. As a result, he received a leg burn and lost his toenail.
According to Roy himself, this was not the first time for him. The first contact with lightning occurred in childhood, while working with my father in the field. Then the lightning bolt hit the braid that Roy was holding, but the lightning did not touch him. Since this case was not documented anywhere, the account began to be kept in 1942.
In 1969, Roy was struck by lightning a second time while driving a truck on a mountain road. First, lightning struck a tree, and then - into an open car window. From the blow, Roy lost consciousness and was left without eyebrows, eyelashes and a large number of hairs on his head.
The next electric shock test took place just a year later. At that moment, Roy was on the lawn of his house. The first lightning bolt was received by the transformer, the second struck Roy's left shoulder and paralyzed his arm.
Due to the fact that the Swarm was often struck by lightning, he was nicknamed "the man-lightning rod".
Another lightning struck a man in 1972 in Shenandoah National Park. Roy's hair caught fire from the blow. Having hardly extinguished the flame with the help of improvised means, the caretaker decided, just in case, to carry a container of water with him everywhere.
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A year later, while on patrol in a car in the park, Roy was struck by lightning for the fifth time. The electric shock threw him out of the car, tore off his shoes and burned his hair. The caretaker found the strength to crawl to the car and pour the stored water on himself.
In 1976, Roy was struck by lightning again. In memory of this discharge, the man was left with a severe ankle injury.
Those around him avoided the Swarm, fearing that lightning would strike them too.
The last incident occurred while fishing in 1977. Lightning hit Roy in the head. The man was taken to the hospital with scorched hair and burns on his chest and abdomen.
All lightning strikes were confirmed by the doctors who examined the caretaker. Roy Cleveland Sullivan has been in the Guinness Book of World Records for being struck by lightning a record number of times.
The survivor after 7 lightning strikes was completely powerless in the face of personal tragedy. In 1983, Roy committed suicide by shooting himself in the stomach. Presumably, unrequited love was the cause of the suicide.