Thursday, June 24, 2010

Would You Say " Lucky Or Unlucky..."?


You might say that if it weren't for bad luck, this guy would have no luck at all!

You also might say that he is just plain lucky to be alive!

Either way, you'd be right!I'm sure he has his own opinion about which is which. This story from the fine folks at Snopes does make you wonder!

Man hit by lightning, then mauled by bear
by Paul A. Specht - Jun. 23, 2010 11:14 AM
McClatchy Newspapers


RALEIGH, N.C. - Some guys have all the luck.

And then there's Rick Oliver, who might be one of the unluckiest men in North Carolina, if not the world.


Oliver was mauled by a bear in his otherwise peaceful front yard a few weeks ago.

"It was like getting struck by lightning," he said.

Turns out, Oliver might be one of the few people in the world capable of accurately making the bear-lightning analogy.

And for Oliver, 51, the two incidents seem to go hand in hand.

Ever since he was struck by lightning in 2006, Oliver says, he's had trouble sleeping.

On restless nights, he tends to putter about his farm, checking on his chickens, working on his tractors and, as he was in the wee hours of June 3, fixing up his Chevy Malibu.

About 2 a.m., he heard a distant rustling on his 17-acre spread in an unincorporated sliver of Wake County between Cary and Raleigh.

As he turned to investigate, he was dealt a heavy blow. "I heard this strange huffing," Oliver said. "And the next thing I know I had been run over and stepped on by a bear."

The black bear's claws gouged his wrist so deep that when he first took off his bandage, blood spewed onto his farmhouse floor. "Like a hose," he said.

"That was when my daughter said, Dad we need to take you to the emergency room.' "

The biggest cut was so deep and wide that doctors at WakeMed couldn't sew it up. So doctors bandaged up Oliver and told him to keep pressure on the lacerations.

Nature 2, Oliver 0.

"He's a little unlucky," said Cameron Rhodes of Cary, who was married by Oliver at Piney Plain United Church of Christ in Cary, where Oliver is a minister. "But he's even more lucky he has survived both of them."

The chances of being attacked by a bear are rather slim, biologists say.

Between 2005 and 2009, only nine people were killed by bears in the United States, according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

Compare that with the 141 people who were killed by dogs during the same period, and you get the idea.

The chances of being struck by lightning are also extremely narrow. "You have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning than getting killed by a bear," a report published by the U.S. Forest Service's Bear Aware program says.

So it doesn't take a math whiz to figure out the extreme unlikelihood of both happening to the same person.

"The probability is infinitesimal," said Ross Leadbetter, a statistician at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. "The closest approximation is certainly zero."

The odds get thinner still in the Triangle, where people vastly outnumber omnivorous bears. About 11,000 bears live in North Carolina. But there are very few in the Raleigh and Cary area, said Joe Folta, a wildlife biologist at the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

"The ones that do pass through are the one- to one-and-a-half-year-old bears who have been chased off by the bigger bears from the eastern and northern part of the state," he said.

It's common for young bears to travel through the Piedmont region in search of food or love during mating season, said Folta, who has studied bears for 25 years. Black bears will usually run the other way when confronted with danger.

"The best thing to do with a black bear is to clap, bark or make a loud noise and make yourself look bigger to scare them away," he said. "It's not uncommon to find a bear going through your garbage, or even destroying your barbecue grill or bird feeder."

Oliver, who was on a much needed vacation in Myrtle Beach last week, admits he may have left something to attract the bear. "Leftovers," Oliver says, "from lunch in a bag up on the top step."

Sometimes it's like the saying goes...you can't win for losing!

I don't know about you, but I don't think I want to hang out with this guy very much! It might just rub off, know what I mean?

Now, I have hot coffee and iced tea on the patio this morning! Take your pick and pull up a chair!

17 comments:

Frugal Canadian Hermit said...

That guy should go and buy a lottery ticket. He probably has a better chance of getting sucked up by a ufo than winning the lottery though by the sounds of things.

HermitJim said...

Hey FCH...
Man, this guys either really lucky or really unlucky...I can't decide which!

Bet he's getting pretty jumpy now days! I know I would!

Thanks for coming by today, my friend!

Anonymous said...

Glooooom, dispaaaiiirrrr, agony on me - deep down depression - excessive misery . . . :^)

Wow, that is some bad luck. He's lucky he made it out in one piece and can probably say 'You thought you were having a bad day' . . .

Had a family friend with similar luck, though not of it all occured in one day. Some people have been hit by a stingray while wade fishing for flounder (South Padre Island). Some people have been bitten by rattlesnakes (Lost Maples WMA). Some people have accidentally shot themselves with their own firearm (putting Ruger Mk I in back pocket with finger inside the trigger).

These events happened to my friend. Sadly cancer took his life, only in his mid 40's too.

Momlady said...

Wow. Maybe next time he'll read a book instead of going outside. Iced tea sounds wonderful. It's already 80 here!
Stay cool.

Ben in Texas said...

Well, I know one thing,I ain't gonna stand anywhere near that ole Boy for sure!!! :-)

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi HJ - guess while some people have "all the luck" there are others who don't and this guy is one of them!
It's so nice that you also have iced tea on the patio since you're not a fan of iced coffee. We brew our own iced tea all the time and I add aq couple of flavored tea bags to make it interesting. if we lived closer, we would be there!

HermitJim said...

Hey Anon 5:44...
Wow...sounds like your friend did have a run of bad luck for sure!

Funny how some folks just almost seem to be a magnet for it, isn't it?

I appreciate you dropping by today!


Hey Momlady...
That probably wouldn't be a bad idea, staying inside!

I'm afraid we're in for another summer thunder storm here! Gonna be hot and really humid, I'm sure!

Ah, the joys of Summer in the south!

Thanks for the visit today!


Hey Ben...
I'm with you on that, buddy! Gotta put some distance between me and that fella!

Hey, thanks for coming by, my friend!


Hey Beatrice...
That early morning tea is sounding better all the time! Seems like it gets hot early and stays hot late!

Maybe we will hve to go swimming in one of your ponds! Unless, of course, you have a pool!

I do appreciate your coming by today!

Mechanic in Illinois said...

This guy needs to forget looking for four leaf clovers in his yard. If it was here where I live the bear attack would result in a dinner of bear backstrap! Thanks for another great lesson.

HermitJim said...

Hey Mechanic...
Hope for his sake, he finds a whole bunch of those 4 leaf clovers!

Sounds like the bear kinda snuck up on him!

I don't want to be anywhere around when they start looking for a fight!

Thanks for coming by today!

JoJo said...

Good Morning My Special One
Man that guy should count his blessings I think. He made out of both bad things. I hope he doesn't have anymore bad things happen to him.
Ice Tea sounds good I am just about finished with the coffee this morning. Its still nice and cool but it will warm up soon. It is 82 right now I like that.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

It´s hard to decide if he´s really lucky or the opposite :-) :-) Poor man! But I sure hope he doesn´t have more bad luck anyway!
Have a great day now!
Christer.

HermitJim said...

Hey JoJo...
I think he has certainly used up all his lucky charms for now!

That temp doesn't sound too bad at all! Better than some places like here!

Hey, thanks for coming by today, sweetie! I appreciate it!

Bob Mc said...

Weird! I have a friend who was struck by lightning years ago. He and I have spent a good part of our lives roaming the mountains and woods, and have never had a bear problem. Of course I've read accounts of bear attacks, but they are pretty rare. I wonder what the odds are of both happening to the same person. This guy should go down in the Guiness book of world records.

HermitJim said...

Hey Bob...
guess the odds just caught up to this poor guy! Pretty high odds, if you ask me!

Hope he does better in the future!

Thanks for coming by today, sir!

Zoe said...

I sure wouldn't want to depend on the folks at "WakeMed"! Maybe he needed to consult a medical professional. ??????"The biggest cut was so deep and wide that doctors at WakeMed couldn't sew it up. So doctors bandaged up Oliver and told him to keep pressure on the lacerations."??????

HermitJim said...

Hey Zoe...
Does sound a bit like "duct tape" repairs on the arm, doesn't it? Maybe the duct tape would have been an improvement!

Where is Ben Casey when you need him?

Thanks for the visit today!

Zoe said...

Hey, there's a doc I haven't heard about in awhile! LOL