10 People Who Survived Being Struck by Lightning Multiple Times
Lightning strikes remain statistically rare, yet certain occupations, locations, and circumstances increase exposure. History shows that a small number of people have been struck not once, but multiple times. Their experiences challenge common assumptions about risk and survival.
These cases also show that surviving a strike does not mean walking away unchanged. Many faced lasting injuries, memory loss, anxiety, or physical disability.
Melvyn Roberts
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By 2015, South Carolina resident Melvyn Roberts had claimed eleven lightning strikes, with at least six widely reported by 2011. Incidents occurred during routine activities, including sitting on his porch and mowing his lawn. He describes the sensation as internal burning. Documented effects include nerve damage, headaches, speech difficulty, and significant memory loss.
Roy Sullivan
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Guinness World Records lists Roy Sullivan as the most frequently struck person on record, and he survived seven lightning strikes. As a ranger in Shenandoah National Park, he spent decades outdoors in exposed terrain. One bolt set his hair on fire. Repeated encounters left him anxious during storms. He died in 1983 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound unrelated to lightning.
Walter Summerford
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Walter Summerford’s experiences stretched across years and continents. A strike during World War I threw him from his horse in 1918. Two later incidents occurred after he relocated to Canada. The third left him paralyzed in 1930. He died in 1932, and four years later, lightning reportedly cracked his gravestone in a local cemetery.
Alexander Mandon
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Colombian soldier Alexander Mandon survived three lightning strikes within six months during his military service. A fourth hit followed in 2013 after he returned home. Local responders buried him in the ground with his head exposed for two hours to draw out residual electrical charge. The procedure had to be repeated after an initial positioning error.
Bob Edwards
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North Carolina resident Bob Edwards endured three lightning strikes, two along the same stretch of road years apart. In 2012, lightning hit him as he walked toward his truck after leaving a restaurant. After an earlier strike in 1997, he required resuscitation three times. He later reported post-traumatic stress that affected work and relationships.
Beth Peterson
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Army specialist Beth Peterson was struck directly by lightning at Fort Benning, Georgia, in July 1992. She later described a near-death experience during that incident. Nearly a year later, lightning struck her again. The combined injuries led to the amputation of all ten toes. She also developed chronic headaches and panic attacks triggered by storms.
Michael Cannon
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Michael Cannon’s first strike came at sixteen when lightning traveled along a fence for roughly half a mile before reaching him. Years later, moisture under a truck caused another bolt to shoot into his body. A third strike inside a barn burned hair from his knuckles and left him unconscious. Each event occurred under different environmental conditions.
Bill Cowern
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At age twelve, Bill Cowern was leaving a lake during a storm when lightning struck a nearby pine tree. The impact knocked him unconscious for about ninety minutes. Decades later, when he was 35, ground current from another strike traveled into his garage and forced his muscles rigid. He reports no lasting medical complications from either incident.
Casey Wagner
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During the 2013 Rednecks with Paychecks event in Saint Jo, Texas, rodeo clown Casey Wagner sought shelter as a storm intensified. Standing near a tree placed him in the wrong position. Lightning struck him twice in quick succession. He later compared the sound to back-to-back shotgun blasts.
Jim Lamey
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Lightning entered Jim Lamey’s Pennsylvania home through plumbing in 2009 while he was showering. The incident knocked him unconscious and left him in a filling bathtub until his son intervened. Six years later, another surge traveled through a sink while he was washing dishes. Both incidents caused burns but no permanent injury.