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Happy St. Paddy’s Day: We’re counting down the 7 luckiest people ever to exist

HN

by Hayley Noble

HN

by Hayley Noble

Bust out the green because it’s St Patrick’s Day and the luck of the Irish (and the smell of beer) is in the air.

If you’ve ever stepped onto a train just as the doors are closing or bought a pair of shoes ten minutes after they were marked down to half price, then you’re a little bit lucky.

We thought that this St. Paddy’s Day we would take a look at (lucky number) seven of the luckiest people to have ever lived. You don’t know their names and you don’t know their stories, but you’re about to.

luckiest people in the world

#1. Lena Påhlsson luckiest people

Losing jewellery is stressful and very easily done. But what’s not easy is finding it. This insanely lucky woman lost her wedding ring and found it 16 years later while harvesting carrots. That’s right, a carrot grew through the ring and came up with the vegetable. We were told as kids that eating carrots was good for our eyesight and, in a way, Påhlsson proved that to be somewhat true.

#2. Frane Selak luckiest people

Often addressed as the “world’s most unlucky luckiest man,” this Croatian music teacher has really been through the wringer. It all started in 1962 when he was riding a train that flew off the tracks and crashed into a river. From there, Selak survived a bus crashing into yet another river (you can’t make this stuff up). He also fell out of a plane and landed in a stack of hay, while 19 passengers tragically died. After two more car crashes, as well as being hit by a bus, then 73-year-old Frane won a million dollars in the lottery in 2003.

#3. Bill Morgan luckiest people

In 1998, Aussie Bill Morgan was tragically crushed in a truck accident. He was dead for fourteen minutes and then somehow survived, even after his family had removed the life support during his 12-day coma. His lucky streak doesn’t end there. To celebrate his second chance at life, he bought a Scratch It card and won a $27,000 car. We’re still not done. When documenting his incredible story, a local news team got Morgan to reenact scratching a ‘Scratch It’ card only for him to win another $250,000 as they filmed. You can watch the insanely lucky moment below:

#4. Tsutomu Yamaguchi

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was an employee of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries during World War II and was visiting Hiroshima was when the first nuclear bomb dropped in 1945. He was injured but survived and quickly travelled back to his family in Nagasaki, unfortunately on August 9th, the day that the second bombing happened. What are the odds? He again survived the Nagasaki bombing and later in life became a vocal proponent of nuclear disarmament.

#5. Maarten de Jonge

In March 2014, Dutch cyclist Maarten de Jonge was scheduled to fly on the Malaysian Airlines MH370 that went missing and was never found. Weirdly enough, he had also booked to be on the MH17 flight that was shot down but rescheduled at the last moment. He claims he was just trying to save some money which ultimately saved his life a second time.

#6. Nichiren

A prominent 12th-century monk, Nichiren, was sentenced to death for writing a prophecy that the Japanese authorities felt undermined their power. However, when the sword was raised to behead Nichiren, the executioner was struck by lightning! Nichiren managed to escape his own beheading and was later released by the authorities because the circumstances were just weird.

Nichiren

#7. Charles Lindbergh

Before his solo transatlantic flight in 1927, Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh was an aviator who experienced four crashes; two in 1924 and two in 1926. Each time he essentially said to the world, “how good are parachutes, am I right?” On the importance of a working chute, Lindbergh said, “There is a saying in the service about the parachute: ‘If you need it and haven’t got it, you’ll never need it again!’ That just about sums up its value to aviation”. Lucky Lindy indeed.

As you pop down to the Irish pub and blast The Corrs, remember to look both ways before you cross the road and why not buy an instant Scratch-It on your way home. May the odds be ever in your favour.

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