Kansas lotto player hit by lightning after buying Mega Millions tickets

nydailynews.com ^ | April 1, 2012 | By Philip Caulfield

[Mozilla]

This wasn't the one-in-a-million strike a Kansas lotto player was hoping for.

A Wichita man was hit by lightning on Thursday night just hours after buying three tickets in the record-setting $656 Mega Millions lottery, drawn on Friday.

Bill Isles, a volunteer storm spotter for the National Weather Service, even made an eerie quip to a pal about his long odds moments after buying the tickets at a local grocery store.

"I've got a better chance of getting struck by lightning" than winning the jackpot, Isles said, according to Reuters.

The wannabe mega-millionaire had toted his ham radio into his backyard to check for storm activity at around 9:30 p.m. when a towering bolt of lightning slammed into the ground nearby.

"It threw me to the ground quivering," Isles, 48, told Reuters. "It kind of scrambled my brain and gave me an irregular heartbeat.

[Mozilla]

Terrible situation to be in.

[elpadre]

no voice out of the whirlwind???

[Nowhere Man]

Amateur radio bump.

[Coronal]

Given the date, I’m skeptical.

[MortMan]

I’m in Wichita. A lightning-struck man was reported in the news last week.

The connection is tenuous, but it exists! ;-P

[ArmstedFragg]

Some times, when you make comments about your odds, you don’t really want to be proved right.

[Sacajaweau]

God has a sense of humor?? But that wasn’t funny God....

[Cementjungle]

"It kind of scrambled my brain"

And with that, another Obama voter was born.

[thulldud]

And with that, another Obama voter was born.

That would take more scrambling than one lightning strike can provide.

How about 12 years (or 13, 14?) of publik screwel?

[Jack Hydrazine]

I wonder what the odds are of winning the lottery AND getting struck by lightning?

I guess that’ll be last time he goes out to check the storm activity with his ham gear!

[the invisib1e hand]

The wannabe mega-millionaire had toted his ham radio into his backyard to check for storm activity at around 9:30 p.m. when a towering bolt of lightning slammed into the ground nearby.

it's like checking for a fire by lighting one.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

The wannabe mega-millionaire had toted his ham radio into his backyard to check for storm activity at around 9:30 p.m. when a towering bolt of lightning slammed into the ground nearby.

---

Maybe carrying the ham radio equipment increased his chances of “winning” a lightening strike.

[mylife]

Ping

[tang-soo]

That's like the chances of getting eaten by a polar bear and a regular bear at the same time!

[Vendome]

Just his luck.

[dfwgator]

Wonder if he’s a Jayhawk fan?

[driftless2]

Hey gang, what’s the date today?

[cva66snipe]

Maybe carrying the ham radio equipment increased his chances of “winning” a lightening strike.

Likely a hand held one. It would not have been a factor. Still with him getting hit it was a miracle also that the radio still worked. Hits that close can fry electronics sometimes.

[woofie]

He may not remember me but Im his favorite brother

[woofie]

I thought he WON the lottery

We are not related