Canadian lightning strike survivor wins lottery

Jul 23, 2015, 12:01 pm (16 comments)

Canada 6/49

Defies odds of 1 in 2.6 trillion of both events happening to one person

Lucky would be an understatement to describe one man in Canada.

Peter McCathie survived being hit by lightning when he was a teenager and now he's won the lottery — both events combined come to about a 1 in 2.6 trillion chance.

McCathie is splitting the $1 million Lotto 6/49 prize with co-worker Diana Miller, the Atlantic Lottery told ABC News today.

He's getting an additional $10,000 since he owns the Amherst Shore Country Store in Amherst Shore, Nova Scotia, where the duo bought the $3 ticket.

McCathie's first experience of defying odds — a nearly one in one million chance — happened when he was 14 years old and wading through shallow waters.

"I was trying to lock the boat up, it was a very sunny day, there was one big, white cloud in the sky and the lightning bolt came through the trees and hit me," McCathie told CTV.

McCathie survived the lightning strike and now years later, he told CTV he plans to use his unexpected winnings to take his wife of 30 years on a second honeymoon.

McCathie and Miller had been buying lottery tickets for about a year, but never imagined they would defy the odds.

"I honestly expected to get hit by lightning again first," he told CTV.

The 1 in 2.6 trillion calculation comes from combining the lottery odds, lightning odds and the odds that McCathie's daughter was struck by lightning as well, which happened a few years ago, University of Moncton mathematics professor Sophie Leger said.

Leger worked through the equation — noting that she didn't know the exact number of lottery tickets McCathie has bought in his lifetime — to come up with the near-impossible odds.

"It's almost not possible, but it did happen," she said. "It shows that anything can happen in life."

ABC News, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

music*'s avatarmusic*

Congratulations to our friends up North in Canada ! McCathie is a very lucky person. He should continue playing their Lotto 6/49 game. It will be amazing if he wins again.Lep

HoLeeKau's avatarHoLeeKau

Ut oh, someone please tell our odds-defying friend to STAY AWAY FROM SHARKS!

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by HoLeeKau on Jul 23, 2015

Ut oh, someone please tell our odds-defying friend to STAY AWAY FROM SHARKS!

You got that right, Congrats to the lucky guy.

noise-gate

Only the Strong survive . Congratulations- You Did it Peter!   Thumbs Up

ThatScaryChick's avatarThatScaryChick

Congrats to Peter on surviving the lightning strike and for winning the lottery!

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Crazy

gocart1's avatargocart1

Congrats to  Peter..PartyUS FlagParty

Babes333's avatarBabes333

Amazing.... Definitely anything is possible!!!

The luckiest person in Canada and the world that day!

Celebrate well my friends!

temposhaman

haha Wow, defying what he is. so awesome. UPS BROTHA!

cbr$'s avatarcbr$

Definitely shows it possible. He survive being hit by lightning & hit the Lotto 6/49. Congratulation to Peter Mc Cathie on his wins in live.  Party

Gleno's avatarGleno

The comparison of winning a big  lottery jackpot  and the probability of getting hit by lightning, is always an interesting discussion.

Must be a great place to live  in Nova Scotia, if you like the cold. They don't have many crowds there in the winter.

Congrats to Pete and Diana and enjoy your second honeymoon.

music*'s avatarmusic*

 "While being hit by lightning and being eaten by a shark a meteorite hit my backside".  The first two thirds are from our fearless leader and motivational coach - TODD NORTHROP

the best

hey everyone im new to lotterypost i want to post sum numbers how do i do it

the best

the number for today is 010

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