What are the odds? Man struck by lightning wins the lottery
We all know you're more likely to get hit by lightning than you are to win the lottery. However, one man in New Brunswick in Canada has beaten the odds twice - by being hit by lightning and then winning a $1 million lottery jackpot.
Paul McCathie, a store owner from Amherst Shore in Nova Scotia, picked up his cheque with co-worker Diana Miller. He told the press that he was hit by lightning at the age of 14, while tying up his boat. His daughter has apparently been hit by lightning too in similar circumstances, and he thought he was more likely to be hit by lightning again than win the lottery.
The odds of being struck by lightning in any given year are just under 1 in a million, while the odds of winning this particular lottery are one in 13,983,816. The odds of McCathie experiencing both (factoring in his daughter's accident too) are apparently one in 2.6 trillion.
The mathematician who came up with the result told ABC News that hitting these adds is almost impossible - but not quite.
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The Washington Post reported that McCathie planned a second honeymoon, and to take some time out for cooking and fishing. He might want to get someone else to tie his boat up though...
This may well be the first time the survivor of a lightning strike has won the lottery, although in 2008 a 16-year-old girl from Michigan was struck by lightning - and survived with minor injuries. While she was in the hospital, a nurse told her she must be on a lucky streak, so her mum went out to buy a lottery ticket. She won $20.
In 2012 a Kansas man wasn't quite so lucky. He hit the headlines after buying a lottery ticket, joking with a friend that he was more likely to be hit by lightning than he was to win the lottery - and then being hit by lightning on the way home. He survived the strike, but didn't win.
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