Croatian music teacher Frane Selak is both the luckiest and unluckiest man in the world. Not only has he escaped death seven times, but he also won the lottery in 2003. He is now 86 years old, and the debate about whether he is lucky or unlucky has yet to be settled. Well, let’s settle it! Here, we provide a detailed timeline of Frane Selak’s brushes with death (and his one brush with financial victory).
1962: Swam to Safety. In 1962, the train Frane Selak was on jumped the tracks and careened into a river. Though other passengers on the train died, Frane was able to swim to safety, despite the fact that he had a broken arm.
1963: Plane Crash. The very next year, Frane was on a plane that had two malfunctioning engines. As the plane lost altitude, a door blew off, and Frane was sucked out of the plane. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as every single passenger on the plane died while Frane somehow managed to land safely in a haystack.
1964: Bus Crash II. In 1964, Frane went through another bus crash. Ice caused the bus wheels to lock up, and the bus plunged into the valley below it. Frane survived.
1970: Vehicular Explosion. After all of these brushes with death, Frane decided to give public transportation a rest and bought a car. However, while he was driving in 1970, the car engine burst into flames. He was somehow able to jump free of the car before it exploded.
1973: Vehicular Explosion II. Yet again in 1973, a fuel pump in Frane’s new car decided to rupture, which caused another fire. This time, the flames were blown inside the car, making the situation worse than the first time this happened. Frane was badly burnt, but he still managed to survive.
1995: Hit By a Bus. The title basically says it all. In 1995, Frane was hit by a bus and managed to survive. He stopped riding public transportation, but he couldn’t stay away from it forever.
1996: The Truck Driver Incident. In 1996, Frane was driving on a mountain road when a truck driver forced him off the side. He fell 300 feet in his car, which promptly exploded when it hit the ground. However, Frane didn’t actually fall the entire 300 feet, because he was somehow able to jump out of his car and hang on to a tree on the side of the mountain.
2003: The Luckiest Person in the World. After escaping death seven times, Frane decided to play the lottery. The ticket he bought in 2003 was the first he had bought in over 40 years. Naturally, he won. So, is Frane the world’s luckiest or unluckiest person? You decide for yourself.