13 People Who Seem to Have the Worst Luck on Earth
Some people’s lives look like endless bad luck — but strangely enough, many of them survived it all. These are real stories of people whose misfortune was so wild it almost feels fictional.
1. Frane Selak — The Unluckiest Yet Luckiest Man
Frane Selak, a Croatian music teacher, experienced accident after accident — from a runaway train and a plane crash to multiple car fires and even being hit by a bus. He escaped each disaster with minor injuries. Eventually, after dodging death so many times, he won a big lottery jackpot and generously gave most of it away.
- 1962: A train derailed, plunging into a river; he survived by clinging to a hat.
- 1963: Blown out of a plane door, he landed in a haystack, while the rest of the passengers died.
- 1966: A bus slid into a river, killing four, but he walked away with minor injuries.
- 1970: A car exploded, but he escaped.
- 1973: A car caught fire and burst into flames, but he survived.
- 1995: A bus hit him, but he survived.
- 2003: He won the lottery, using most of the winnings to buy a house and give to family.
Selak believed he was either the world’s unluckiest or luckiest man, preferring to think God was watching over him, noting that luck often pursued him at high speed.
His extraordinary story captured global attention, becoming a legendary tale of survival and unexpected fortune, inspiring cartoons and media features. He passed away peacefully in 2016 at age 87.
2. Henry Ziegland — Outrun by a Bullet… Twice
Henry’s troubles began when his ex-girlfriend’s brother shot at him and missed. Two decades later, Henry found the bullet stuck in a tree and tried to blow it out with dynamite — only for the blast to propel the bullet back at him, killing him instantly.
3. Melanie Martinez — Hurricane Magnet
Melanie lost her home five times to hurricanes over roughly fifty years in Louisiana. As a school bus driver, she lived through more storms than most people ever will, making her one of the unluckiest victims of nature.
4. James Howells — Bitcoin Disaster
Imagine throwing away a hard drive that contains 8,000 bitcoins — that’s what James did! Now worth hundreds of millions of dollars, he has begged local officials to let him dig up the landfill to recover it, but so far his pleas have been refused.
5. Violet Jessop — The Unsinkable Survivor
Violet survived three major ship disasters in the early 1900s — including both the Titanic and Britannic sinkings — earning her the nickname “Miss Unsinkable.”
6. Wilmer McLean — War Follows Him
Wilmer’s home was caught up in the First Battle of Bull Run during the American Civil War. Hoping to escape the conflict, he moved — only to end up living where General Lee surrendered at Appomattox in the second big battle. Everywhere he went, war followed.
7. Roy Sullivan & Major Summerford — Lightning Magnets
Roy survived seven lightning strikes — more than anyone else on record. Major Summerford was struck multiple times too, and famously, lightning even hit his grave after he died.
8. Ronald Wayne — Missed Apple Fortune
Ronald was one of Apple’s original founders. But he sold his 10% stake just 12 days later — a decision that ultimately cost him what would have been hundreds of billions in today’s market value.
9. John Wade Agan — A Lifetime of Misfortune
John Wade Agan endured lightning strikes, a stabbing, snake bites, and even a robbery — but survived them all. That’s resilience wrapped in bad luck.
10. Erik Norrie — Survival Against the Odds
Erik survived a rattlesnake bite, a shark attack (losing part of his leg), a monkey attack, and a lightning strike. His story sounds surreal, but it’s all true.
11. Adolphe Sax — Misfortune From Childhood
The inventor of the saxophone had an unlucky start: as a child he fell from a tall building, swallowed acid thinking it was milk, and survived a workshop explosion — all before adulthood.
12. Tsutomu Yamaguchi — Twice Bombed and Still Alive
Yamaguchi survived both atomic bombings in Japan during World War II — in Hiroshima and Nagasaki — suffering injuries but living to the age of 93.
13. Ann Hodges — Hit by a Meteorite
Ann became the first documented person to be struck by a meteorite. The space rock crashed through her roof while she was napping, leaving her bruised but alive — talk about unlucky odds!
Conclusion
These stories show that “luck” isn’t only about unfortunate events — it’s also about surviving them. Whether these people had the worst luck or the wildest survival stories, their lives remind us that truth can be stranger than fiction.