Mr. Lucky

Mr. Lucky

During the election campaign to create the California State Lottery, opponents claimed that you were more likely to be struck by lightning than win the lottery. I knew someone back then who had been struck by lightning twice and survived--and I kidded that someone that lucky needed to play the lottery! But that's nothing compared to this Mr. Lucky. From the March 24, 2009 New York Times:

TOKYO (AP) — A 93-year-old Japanese man has become the first person certified as a survivor of both atomic bombings by the United States, officials said Tuesday.
The survivor, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, had already been a certified hibakusha, or radiation survivor, of the bombing on Aug. 9, 1945, in Nagasaki, but he has now been confirmed as surviving the attack on Hiroshima three days earlier, in which he suffered serious burns to his upper body. Certification qualifies survivors for compensation, including monthly allowances, free medical checkups and funeral costs.
Mr. Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on Aug. 6, 1945, when an American B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city. He returned to Nagasaki, his hometown, before the second attack, officials said.

Now, you might think that having the misfortune to be in the only two cities that have ever been atomic bombed would not qualify as Lucky. But surviving two such attacks? Play the lottery, Mr. Yamaguchi!