A Canadian Man Defied The Odds By Being Struck By Lightning, Then Winning The Lottery

We’ve all heard the expression that you have better odds of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. But does anyone know the odds of doing both? According to a math professor at the University of Moncton in Canada, it’s about one in 2.6 trillion. And wouldn’t you know it, earlier this week, one man beat those odds.

Peter McCathie of Nova Scotia had an early brush with death while on a boat when he was a teenager. While wading through shallow waters near the shore, he was struck by lightning. “I was trying to lock the boat up,” McCathie told CTV Atlantic. “It was a very sunny day, there was one big, white cloud in the sky, and the lightning bolt came through the trees and hit me.”

On Monday, his fortunes reversed, as he and a co-worker Diana Miller collected a cool million-dollar prize from the Atlantic Lottery offices in Moncton. They had been purchasing tickets together for about a year, but obviously, the win came as a big surprise.

“I honestly expected to get hit by lightning again first,” said McCathie.

After 30 years of marriage, McCathie plans to use his winnings by joining his wife on a second honeymoon.

(via CTV News)

×