Today I Googled Lightening Striking Twice

Google, why does it seem that people who get struck by lightning once usually have a second incidence?

This inquiry began upon learning that my friend Hilary and I both shared a similar story with very unique parameters: a middle school Science teacher who had been stuck by lightening not once, but TWICE! I began to ask myself the likelihood of this event and then decided to ask Google instead. According to the National Weather Service a person’s likelihood to be struck by lightning in their lifetime is 1 in 30,000, but being struck more than once = 1 in 9 million. What EVER! A forest ranger (Roy Sullivan) from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia seemed to defy these statistics with his world record of SEVEN isolated shocks in his lifetime! (Even more shocking, he survived them all only to take his own life in his mid seventies over a lovers quarrel.) There are more characters like Roy who call themselves “human lightning rods” and claim a storm will change course just to find them. Hmmm… while there is currently no scientific evidence available to back up these valiant claims, I note that most of the victims with subsequent incidences just put themselves out there more than the average person. Outdoorsy people (like our Science teachers and Roy Sullivan) increase their chances of being zapped by mere exposure. Regardless of the explanation, I have found countless cases of multi-incident electrocutions with evidence from hospital records AND media coverage. Scientists maintain that if lightning strikes something more than once (which is not uncommon) it is by mere coincidence because the patterns are completely random. I refuse to accept this. Nevertheless, until sweet gratification of scientific development proves my suspicions, here are some nifty facts about lightning I bet you didn’t know:

Lightning is sexist: Roughly 80% of lightning strike victims are male

Lightning is racist: It strikes oak species over any other tree

Lightning is not American- Most common strikes are in July (near Independence Day)

Lightning sounds like a real jerk.....