Man Buys Lottery Ticket and Gets Struck By Lightning

The saying “you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the Mega Millions jackpot” became painfully true for 48 year old Wichita, Kansas man, Bill Isles. Last Thursday, after Isles bought his Mega Millions lottery ticket he told his friend that he had “a better chance of getting stuck by lightning” than winning the $640 million jackpot. Hours later, Isles was struck by lightning outside his home while operating a radio. Emergency officials took Isles to the hospital and he was released the following day. The lightning did not strike Isles directly so he did not suffer any burns, though he did have muscle spasms.

As it turns out, Isles was correct when he told his friend he had a better chance of getting struck by lightning—the odds of winning Friday’s $640 million jackpot were 1 in 176 million while the odds of  getting hit by lightning in a given year are 1 in 775,000.

See Bill Isles, Wichita Man, Struck By Lightning Hours After Buying Mega Millions Lottery Tickets, The Huffington Post, Apr. 1, 2012. 

Special thanks to David S. Luber (Attorney at law, Florida Probate Attorney Wills and Estates Law Firm) for bringing this article to my attention.