The Ranger Struck by Lightning Seven Times
June 25, 1977
The odds of being struck by lightning even once in a lifetime are low. Roy Sullivan, a park ranger in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, was struck seven times between 1942 and 1977, and lived through every one. Guinness World Records still lists him as the person who has survived the most lightning strikes.
The first strike
Sullivan was born in Greene County, Virginia, in 1912, according to The Weather Network and Wikipedia, and worked as a ranger in Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
His first strike came in April 1942. Both The Weather Network and Wikipedia say he had taken shelter from a storm in a fire lookout tower that had no lightning rod. When the tower was hit and caught fire, he ran outside and was struck. The bolt burned a strip along his right leg and hit his toe, leaving a hole in his shoe. Guinness says he lost his big toenail.
Six more
Then nothing happened for 27 years. Guinness, The Weather Network and Wikipedia all list the second strike in 1969, which burned off his eyebrows; Wikipedia says he was driving his truck at the time and was knocked unconscious. In July 1970 he was hit again and his left shoulder was seared, Guinness and Wikipedia say; Wikipedia places him in his front yard.
The fourth strike, in 1972, set his hair on fire; Guinness dates it to 16 April and Wikipedia says he was inside a ranger station. On 7 August 1973 he was struck again, his new hair was set alight and his legs were seared, per Guinness; Wikipedia says he had tried to drive away from a storm cloud he felt was following him. The sixth strike, on 5 June 1976, injured his ankle, according to both Guinness and Wikipedia.
The seventh came on 25 June 1977. All three sources agree he was hit while fishing; The Weather Network and Wikipedia say the bolt struck his head, set his hair on fire and burned his chest and stomach. Wikipedia repeats a story that, moments later, a bear tried to steal his catch and he drove it off with a branch, but that detail comes only from Sullivan's own telling.
Unlucky, or exposed?
Was Sullivan cursed? The Weather Network points out that ordinary odds do not really apply to him: he spent his working life outdoors in an area with frequent thunderstorms, which made him far more likely than most people to be hit. Virginia, it says, averages 35 to 45 thunderstorm days a year.
Wikipedia notes that the strikes were documented by a park superintendent, but that the superintendent was not present at any of them, so the record rests heavily on Sullivan's own accounts. Guinness nonetheless recognises seven strikes as the record. Wikipedia says he came to believe some force was trying to destroy him, began carrying water in case his hair caught fire, and found that people avoided standing near him.
A sad ending
Sullivan survived lightning seven times but died in September 1983. Guinness and Wikipedia both say he took his own life; Guinness says he was reportedly rejected in love. Wikipedia says two of his ranger hats ended up on display in Guinness exhibition halls.
His story is now a favourite of lightning-safety talks, though the real lesson is less about luck than exposure: when thunder roars, go indoors.
Further reading
- Guinness World Records: Most lightning strikes survived
- The Weather Network: Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times
- Wikipedia: Roy Sullivan