Melvin Roberts has been hit six times
If your name is Melvin Roberts and you're from
Seneca, South Carolina, being struck by lightning
once doesn't freak you out. Twice? No problem. Three times? Now
this is kind of weird. Four times? Seriously, what are the odds?
FIVE times? Cheese and rice! SIX TIMES? Roberts,
58, was hit again, six time earlier this week, and doggonit,
he's still alive and kicking.
At this point I think there needs to be an inquisition into this
man's obvious super human strength and will to live. I mean, is he
somehow harnessing the power of each bolt that hits him? His story
is out of this world.
They say the odds of being struck by lightning twice is
one in nine million -- and it's impossible to calculate
the odds of being struck SIX times. Roberts is by all counts an
anomaly, and if you ask me, a GD super hero.
For the record, I'd be in an underground bunker after my second
strike so fast you wouldn't even have time to smell my hair and my
shoes burning. I'd be convinced someone was out to get me, and that
they wouldn't stop trying to hit me until I'm dead. Who, exactly,
would be trying to kill me via thunderbolts is up for debate, but
Zeus would be on my short list. (Oh, it's crazy to think a Greek
God would be trying to kill me? Well I've been theoretically struck
by lightning twice, so really, anything is within the realm of
possibility, people.)
Anyway, Roberts is recovering in South Carolina
hospital after Monday's strike and is doing fine. This one
wasn't as bad as the fifth, it seems. The last time this happened
in 2007 things got weird, fast. He was simply going to feed his
chickens under clear conditions. He explains ...
I went to cover my chickens up, and I believe it was clear. But
when I woke up, I was all bloody and burned and confused and had my
little chickens lying with their feet up.
Poor chickies! And of course, poor Roberts. He isn't sure if
he'll be struck for a seventh time, but there's no doubt in my mind
this guy's going down again. I'm sorry. I gotta play the odds here
and say he's getting another jolt in less than three years. I wish
he'd stay indoors!
God bless you, Melvin, you deserve a medal for your bravery.
Just, for crying out loud, keep that medal in your basement and
never go near it. Wouldn't want to increase your chances of another
strike, know what I mean?