Lightning Sullivan People Struck Building Eslpod Roy Park

Many people say that the "odds" (probability; likelihood) of being "struck" (hit) by "lightning" (electricity from the sky during a storm) is about one in 10 thousand, meaning that it is highly unlikely. However, one man, Roy Sullivan, "defied the odds" (had something happen even though it was very unlikely). He was struck by lightning seven times!

Sullivan worked as a "park ranger" (a person whose job is to take care of national parks, help park visitors, and educate people about the natural environment) in Virginia. Between 1942 and 1977, he was struck seven different times: in a "fire tower" (a tall structure in a natural area, used by people who are looking for fires in the distance), in a truck, in his "front yard" (the grassy or garden area in front of a home), in a "ranger station" (a building where park rangers work), "on patrol" (while walking through an area) in a park, and while he was "fishing" (trying to catch fish) in a "pond" (a very small lake). He said that he was struck by lightning even earlier in his childhood, but that could not be "verified" (confirmed; determined to be true).

The "Guinness Book of World Records" (a book that reports extreme facts) lists Sullivan as being struck by lightning more than any other person, and many people refer to him as the Human "Lightning Rod" (a metal pole at the top of a building designed to attract lightning and protect the building from damage).

Sullivan was "burnt" (damaged by high heat or fire) and injured in the lightning strikes, but they did not kill him. Sadly, he died from "suicide" (when one kills oneself) in 1983 when he was 71 years old.