The expression "lightning does not strike the same place twice" can bring a sad smile from Colombian Alexander Mandon: the lightning bolt has struck the young man four times already.
A resident of the city of Sampues, located 300 km north of Bogota, was first "attacked" by lightning in September 2012. Shocked Alexander came to his senses for a long time and was glad that he had survived.
But the "heavenly fire" did not leave the Colombian alone, overtaking him again. After this incident, twice amazed Mandon turned to doctors for help, but they could not explain the reason why the lightning "chose" the guy.
After a while, the young man was drafted into the army, where he went with great enthusiasm, hoping that in his absence gossip and rumors would finally stop.
However, staying in the barracks did not save the recruit - the electric discharge overtook him during the exercises. The garrison commanders rushed to shake off the walking disaster, claiming that Private Mandon's presence would put the rest of the soldiers present with him at the shooting range at risk.
Thus, the demobilization ended up in his hometown again. The Colombian began to avoid open spaces and open windows, fearing to be caught by surprise. His tactics did not bring results - Alexander shied away for the fourth time.
A guy with shaking limbs turned to the healers, begging for help, getting rid of this curse. The witch doctors, apparently, remembered everything they knew about lightning, and came up with a way out in the form of burying it in the ground.
"A local doctor recommended that Mandon bury himself alive in an upright position in order to remove the electrical charge from himself and transfer it to the ground," according to the Spanish edition Noticias Uno.
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The young man, ready for anything, agreed to earth therapy. On the appointed day, two men took the exhausted Alexander out of the house and lowered him into a previously dug hole.
While the rest of the ceremony participants threw dirt at the boy's body, relatives held his head and wiped his mouth from the dust.
Healers who watched the saving ritual were unable to answer how reliable this type of treatment is and what is its "warranty" period. So time, or rather the coming thunderstorm, will show the results of their efforts.