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Luck & Serendipity

Britain's luckiest man cheated death 14 times
Meet Britain's luckiest man - the 90-year-old pensioner who has cheated death in a series of disasters 14 times.

Last Updated: 3:33PM BST 19 Sep 2008

Alec Alder has survived car crashes, war-time bombing and has even walked away after a fighter jet smashed into the side of his house as he slept.

Other escapes include a 15ft fall from a tree in 1926 and a close shave when he avoided being sent to Dunkirk in 1939 - where his whole squadron were killed.

Now the grandfather of six, from Stroud, Glos, says he must be the "luckiest fella alive" and is amazed he has made it to such a ripe old age.

The first of his near-death experiences came as a ten-year-old boy, when he was hit by an oncoming car as he cycled down a narrow country lane.

Mr Alder, a widower, said: "I went around the corner and there was a car in front of me.

"I went straight into the car, up into the air and landed spread-eagle on the bonnet."

The driver turned out to be a doctor who was able to treat him at the scene and save his life.

A decade later and Mr Alder's life was saved once more, following the outbreak of the Second World War.

In October 1939, the then 21-year-old was drafted into the Glosters Regiment of the Territorial Army (TA) and his squadron was called up to fight on the beaches of Dunkirk.

But by chance, Mr Alder's wedding to his fiancée Ada was brought forward from December by two months and he was given five days leave.

When he returned to his barracks after his honeymoon, his former company marched out to Dunkirk but he was sent just a few miles down the road to Cheltenham, Glos.

Less than six weeks later, his entire troop was wiped out during one of the Second World War's most bloody campaigns.

Mr Alder, a retired coal merchant, said: "My old company went off to Salisbury Plain and eventually to Dunkirk.

"All my friends got killed at Dunkirk and I should have been with them."

It was only three years before Mr Alder would have to wait for his next close call.

In 1942, he was taking part in military training exercises in Yorkshire, when he was run over by a tank.

The gigantic gun carrier came within inches of hitting his chest and head, but rolled harmlessly over his foot.

"For some reason, the driver was standing up and waving his arms," Mr Alder said.

"It had gone over my foot and my leg when the engine stopped. I don't know why - I think it was a divine purpose.

"Fortunately, the ground was muddy and it pushed my foot and leg into the mud.

"If he had gone further, he would have gone over me and killed me."

Later that year Mr Alder, who was promoted to a TA sergeant, was posted to Devon where he stayed with relatives in their top floor bedroom.

But as he lay asleep in bed, a British fighter pilot crash landed and ploughed straight into the side of the house.

"It only missed my head by inches," he said.

"The roof collapsed around me and the plane burst into flames and crashed into the garden.

"If it had been two feet lower, it would have burst into flames in my room."

Towards the end of the war, Mr Alder was sent to Burma where he broke his leg playing football.

He was sent to a hospital in India where he had a "life-changing moment" - a ward matron saved his life and converted him to Christianity.

Mr Alder became later worked as a church minister in the Stroud region when he returned from the war.

Now Mr Alder, who still attends the congregational church near his home, says he believes God saved his life all those times.

He said: "She said, 'Your giving only five per cent of your time to God, but he doesn't want five per cent - he wants a hundred percent.'

"It was that moment I became a Christian. I told God I wanted to serve him."

He had two children with his wife Ada - Paul, 67, and Maureen, 60, - but was left a widower when she died in February last year.

Near death experiences:

1926 - Fell 15ft from an elm tree and landed on his stomach.

1929 - Collided head on with a car while cycling and landed on the bonnet.

1939 - Narrowly avoided certain death in Dunkirk when his company was changed at the last minute due to his wedding.

1940 - Bombed as he guarded an airfield in Kent during the battle of Britain.

1940 - Bombed again as he guarded a cable works in Gravesend.

1942 - A runaway gun carrier's engine stalled seconds before crushing him to death.

1942 - Almost hit by a low-flying fighter plane that crashed into his room inches above his head.

1943 - Avoided being destroyed in an area of sea riddled by German U-Boats after the engine on his ship cut out.

1944 - Threatened with being shot by a soldier in his platoon in Burma

1944 - Avoided being killed by the enemy in Burma after his leg was broken during a football match and he had to be taken to hospital.

1945 - Nearly sunk by a ferocious storm off Gibraltar when returning home from war.

1947 - Avoided being crushed in his car by a lorry in a journey to Blackpool after dashing clear just in time.

1977 - Survived a head-on road collision because the other clipped the kerb.

1997 - Nearly hit by doors that swung open on the lorry in front of him while driving from Wales to Stroud.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... times.html
 
You couldn't make it up! :D

Man receives new leg after drink at his local pub
Not many people walk into a bar and walk out with a new leg.

Last Updated: 2:42PM BST 28 Sep 2008

But that’s what happened to David Huckvale, 42, who needed a £40,000 bionic leg to walk again.

The father-of-two popped down to his local pub on the same day surgeon Alistair Gibson, who specialises in fitting the computer-controlled limb, was there for a pint.

When the two happened to meet Mr Gibson mentioned he had a spare leg and could fit Mr Huckvale for free.

Mr Huckvale had his leg amputated when he was 29 after a benign tumour was removed.

Before the chance encounter, he had been limping around in a false leg, which didn’t fit properly and walked with the help of crutches and was sometimes in a wheelchair.

Mr Huckvale had read about the bionic leg available in the US and was saving for one – but had only managed to put away a fraction of the required £40,000.

He even bought a lottery ticket every week in the hope he might get a windfall.

Mr Huckvale told the Sunday Mirror: “I have been blessed by a miracle. I can now play in the garden with my two girls. Alistair has given me my life back.”

Mr Gibson said he was pleased to have been able to help.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... l-pub.html
 
Many moons ago, My husband and I were planning to spend the weekend in Albuquerque, NM, a very drivable 225 miles from our home in Las Cruces, NM. He left early in order to attend a continuing legal education course in Alb., and I had to stay behind to take my French 212 final. My husband's sister was to drive me up after the final, as she was going up for the weekend herself.

Sister-in-law said we would have to drive a bit slower than normal because she had a tear in one of the radial tires of her car and some of the steel belt stuff was sticking out. We hit the road, at about 20 mph. I quickly did the math in my head: 225 miles at 20 mph = slow descent into insanity. I begged her to let me buy her a new tire, but she simply refused. I was dumbfounded.

I prayed earnestly for either a state trooper or a tow truck to notice us as we limped along the shoulder of I-25. About an hour into this trip, a state trooper WITH a tow-trailer passed us and pulled into the rest stop ahead. I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to pee and insisted Sister-in-Law stop. The trooper put the car on the trailer and drove us to Alb. at law-breaking speeds. I ditched S-i-L at the FOURTH tire shop she drove us to (she was pricing tires!), certain that, with some help, we indeed make our own luck (bad or good).
 
Plant pot bought for £1 sells for £32,000
A woman who bought a plant and accompanying vase for £1 at a car boot sale sold the glass container for £32,000 after having it valued on the Antiques Roadshow.

By Chris Irvine
Last Updated: 1:46AM GMT 18 Dec 2008

The owner, who has not been named, thought the glass container was junk and was about to throw it away but decided to have it valued on the TV show.

This Sunday's programme from Dumfries House, East Ayrshire, will see the 1929 vase valued at £25,000 - the most expensive piece of glass seen on the show.

The vase was created by French designer Rene Lalique and is unique as the mould was broken in the production process.

Speaking on the show, the owner said: "We were clearing out the loft and it's been in there.

"We bought it for the plant because it looked nice in the bowl and we paid a pound."

Roadshow veteran Eric Knowles told The Daily Mirror: "I've been waiting over 25 years for such a piece to come in, and this was the stuff of dreams.

"They'd dumped it in the attic after the plant in it died and were about to throw it away. We had a lot of clouds in Dumfries but this was the cloud with a silver lining. It's worth at least £25,000."

The couple has since sold the antique at a London auction for £32,450. :D

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvan ... 32000.html
 
Customer presents £7.4m winning ticket
By Andrew Hamilton, Press Association
Friday, 13 February 2009

Shop workers spoke of their shock today after a customer presented them with a £7.4 million-winning lottery ticket.

The woman, who has not been identified, handed over her ticket at the David Sands store in Perth.

She was the second customer in the Tulloch Square shop to win a lottery prize this week after someone won £1,000 in a scratchcard competition.

The win comes after Perth was revealed to have had more National Lottery winners than anywhere else in Scotland.


Shop manager Lorraine Ritchie said the woman, who is understood to be local, bought the ticket from the shop for last Saturday's draw.

She said: "She came in with her ticket but she was told she would have to contact Camelot.

"I think the whole thing must have been a shock for her - it certainly was for the staff.

"I had another customer in here the other day who won £1,000 on the scratchcard, so hopefully we have a lucky place here."

Last year National Lottery operator Camelot revealed Perth was Scotland's luckiest town since the competition began in November 1994.

While, at almost £261 million, Glasgow has seen more lottery cash payouts than anywhere else in Scotland, Perth had the most winners, with 7,691 people scooping a total of £23 million.

Scotland has won a total of £950 million in prizes since the National Lottery was launched.

A spokeswoman for Camelot confirmed there had been a £7.4 million jackpot win at the weekend but could not reveal further details.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 08487.html
 
That's almost one for the coincidence thread, since Perth is the rune of chance, mystery and gambling in Runic mythology.
 
Abendstern said:
That's almost one for the coincidence thread, since Perth is the rune of chance, mystery and gambling in Runic mythology.
Eh? Wot? :?

Never heard of that - tell us more!
 
Well, as a novice there's very little else I can tell you. The Vikings/Anglo-Saxons were apparently (i.e the Romans said it) obsessed with chance. They had a special regard for runes and used them for divination; I think some of the meanings for the individual runes have been taken from the various rune poems of the viking tribes, although when you actually look at what they say it's all more than a little nebulous sometimes.

Apparently, Perth itself got that significance from the name of a dice cup, or the name of a game of chance in which such a cup was used.
 
Abendstern said:
Well, as a novice there's very little else I can tell you. The Vikings/Anglo-Saxons were apparently (i.e the Romans said it) obsessed with chance. They had a special regard for runes and used them for divination; I think some of the meanings for the individual runes have been taken from the various rune poems of the viking tribes, although when you actually look at what they say it's all more than a little nebulous sometimes.

Apparently, Perth itself got that significance from the name of a dice cup, or the name of a game of chance in which such a cup was used.
I don't think the Romans said anything about the Vikings, since Vikings didn't appear on British shores until centuries after the Romans had left. (The Romans did set up defences against the Saxons, however...)

So what I want to know is, is it worth my while to move to Perth? :D
 
luck

Well if you think luck then you will have it..... EARL ....[/url]
 
British walker saved from fatal fall by tree
A British holidaymaker was saved from a fatal fall from a 150ft volcanic ridge when her head became wedged in the mountain's only tree.

Last Updated: 2:14PM GMT 09 Mar 2009

Maureen Evason, 66, lost her footing while climbing a steep volcanic ridge in Tenerife and "somersaulted" like a rag doll down the sheer cliff face.

Mrs Evason's fall was broken when she got caught in the branches of a lone hillside tree 80ft from the top.

Her head became stuck between two branches, which provided a natural 'neck brace' to immobilise her body and prevent spinal injuries.

Mrs Evason, a grandmother-of-two was left dangling face-down in agony for three hours before rescue workers could reach her.

She broke her pelvis, both legs, a wrist and ankle but doctors said it was "incredible" that she suffered no spinal injuries and said she would have died if the lucky tree had not broken her fall.

Mrs Evason spent three-and-a-half weeks in intensive care before being flown back to Britain by air ambulance.

She was treated at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon, for a further five weeks before returning home with husband Robert, 62, at the end of February.

Mrs Evason, 62, of Plymouth, said: "The fall seems to have knocked my memories out.

"I can't remember packing my things or going on the trip.

"The first thing that I can recall is waking up in the air ambulance with the captain and a doctor speaking to me.

"Its been a long, tiring recovery but really I just feel lucky to be alive.

"The odds of falling into a tree like that and not breaking my neck must be pretty slim.

"I feel quite sprightly considering what happened, but we're putting any holidays on hold for a while."

The accident happened on December 27 while the couple, keen walkers, were exploring the isolated Santiago Del Teide region of the Spanish island.

They were with 20 other ramblers being led by a local tour guide when Mrs Evason, a retired playtime supervisor, slipped on the flanks of a volcanic mountain.

She tumbled down the scree-covered slopes, but was stopped by a tree - the only living thing on the entire barren mountainside.

Her head became entangled in its branches and she was left pinned face-down in a horizontal position.

Mr Evason peered over the edge but could only see his wife's white rucksack hanging precariously below.

He said: "One minute she was there, then suddenly she disappeared. I didn't see her go over the edge but I heard people shouting her name.

"I looked over the side and very far down I could see her backpack.

"From the height she had fallen I thought there was no way she would be alive.

"The branch should have broken her neck, but instead the position seemed to have stopped her falling any further and actually held her still.

"The doctors have said it is incredible that a woman of her older years could survive such a fall - and without any spinal or head injuries too."

The sheer sides of the mountain meant paramedics took three hours to reach Mrs Evason.

She was eventually airlifted to a hospital in nearby Santa Cruz where she underwent an emergency operation and several blood transfusions.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -tree.html
 
Student wins £250,000 top prize on Deal or No Deal
A student has become only the second person to win the top prize of £250,000 on Noel Edmonds' game show Deal or No Deal.

Last Updated: 12:09AM GMT 13 Mar 2009

Alice Munday, 21, could have walked away with just 1p in the final round but stuck with the box she had kept throughout the Channel 4 show to secure the maximum payout.

In the nail-biting finale aired on Thursday, Miss Munday rejected a £17,500 offer from the banker to gamble on the prize contained in box eight.

She follows in the footsteps of Laura Pearce, the only other person to scoop the top prize in January 2007. Ironically, both women are from Monmouth in South Wales.

Miss Munday had earlier told Edmonds that she would "never gamble" with the 1p still in play.

Edmonds himself was close to tears when he told the triumphant contestant: 'You choked me up there'.

Just before opening the box, he said: "On January 7 2007 Laura from Monmouth won quarter of a million pounds.

"Now Alice from Monmouth are you just about to join her?'

He then revealed the jackpot shouting "Yes" as confetti showered the studio.

Presenting Deal Or No Deal has relaunched Edmonds' television career after years in the wilderness. Last year he was named the third most-watched man on British television, after Adriam Chiles and Philip Schofield.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -Deal.html

Perth, Monmouth... Where's the luckiest place in Britain?
 
Someone will have to explain why Monmouth is ironic, because I don't get it.
 
Can tell it's Friday the 13th.

Was awakened at 6:00 a.m. by a call from my place of employment regarding a machine which was broken.

Then my car's battery was dead.

Wonder what's next. Trouble comes in threes.
 
eburacum said:
Someone will have to explain why Monmouth is ironic, because I don't get it.
Me neither.

(Perhaps you have to live there to get it! ;) )
 
I am a medical oddity in more ways than one. I have a rare blood group (O negative), I have a dimple on one cheek and not the other (having a dimple on only one side is very rare), I had to have a meccles diverticulum removed from my stomach (I think this is a remnant of the umbilical cord?) and I once had a rash so unusual that doctors from all over the hospital came to to have a look.

And I nearly lost my foot after it was caught under the wheels of a miniature steam engine.

If I get anything else it's bound to be weird. :shock:
 
nyarlathotepsub2 said:
Can tell it's Friday the 13th.

Was awakened at 6:00 a.m. by a call from my place of employment regarding a machine which was broken.

Then my car's battery was dead.

Wonder what's next. Trouble comes in threes.

Found out what was next.

The blower motor on my furnace died.

(at least it's supposed to stay above freezing for the next couple of days. This would have been a disaster a week ago when the temp was in the single digits...)
 
Unlucky to be there, lucky to survive:

Double atomic bomb survivor found in Japan
A 93-year-old Japanese man has become the first person to be officially recognised as a survivor of both atomic bombs dropped on Japan by the United States at the end of the Second World War.

Last Updated: 8:49PM GMT 24 Mar 2009

Tsutomu Yamaguchi had already been a certified hibakusha, or radiation survivor, of the Aug 9, 1945, atomic bombing in Nagasaki. But officials have now confirmed that he also survived the attack on Hiroshima three days earlier.

Mr Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on a business trip on Aug 6, 1945, when a US B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on the city. He then returned to his home in Nagasaki just in time for the second attack, officials said.

"As far as we know, he is the first one to be officially recognised as a survivor of atomic bombings in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki," said Toshiro Miyamoto, a Nagasaki city official. "It's such an unfortunate case, but it is possible that there are more people like him."

Certification qualifies survivors for government compensation - including monthly allowances, free medical checkups and funeral costs - but Mr Yamaguchi's compensation will not increase, Mr Miyamoto said.

Mr Yamaguchi is one of about 260,000 people who survived the attacks, which killed 140,000 in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki.

Survivors of the bombs have developed various illnesses from radiation exposure, including cancer and liver illnesses.

Details of Mr Yamaguchi's health problems were not released.

Thousands of survivors continue to seek official recognition after the government rejected their eligibility for compensation.

The government last year eased the requirements for being certified as a survivor, following criticism the rules were too strict and neglected many who had developed illnesses that doctors have linked to radiation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... Japan.html
 
Backpack saves boy from car death

A 14-year-old boy from Somerset says he owes his life to his cycle helmet and school bag.

Jonno Lambert fell off his bike, landed on his head and a people carrier drove straight over him. :shock:

He said his backpack, loaded with his school books and lunch box, took the full force of the impact.

"If I wasn't wearing that helmet I think I would have serious head injuries and the backpack probably saved me from more injuries," he added.

The backpack was filled with his school books and lunch and was between him and the car's underside.

Jonno's mother, Rebecca Lambert, said she still cannot believe how lucky he was.

"A friend of mine, Helen, was nearby at the time. She managed to sit down and wedge her feet under the car and lift it enough for Jonno, with the help of a couple of schoolgirls, to wriggle out.

"I'm very grateful for her help."

Jonno's doctors have called his escape miraculous.

He suffered a broken bone in his foot and superficial cuts and grazes and says he will be getting on his bike again.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7969230.stm
 
Woman plunged off 100ft cliff in car without seatbelt on - and walked away unhurt
By Mail On Sunday Reporter
Last updated at 12:10 AM on 29th March 2009

A woman escaped virtually uninjured when she plunged over a 100ft cliff in her car while not wearing a seatbelt.

Barbara Tyreman, 60, of Eskdaleside, North Yorkshire, was leaving her home yesterday when she accidentally hit the accelerator of her Mini as she reached for her seatbelt.

As the grandmother of two swerved to avoid hitting another car, the car ‘flew’ over the edge of the cliff and came to rest 100ft below, wedged between two trees.

Firemen cut Mrs Tyreman free from the car and she was airlifted by helicopter to Scarborough Hospital, where she was X-rayed and given blood tests but later released with just a bruised arm.

Mrs Tyreman, who runs a holiday rentals firm, said: ‘My daughter and granddaughter were in a car in front of me and I didn’t want to hit them so I turned the car to the left and it flew – literally flew – over the cliff edge.

‘After I landed, I hadn’t banged my head, and my legs and arms and everything were still moving and I couldn’t believe it. I just don’t know how I’m alive.

‘I’m very lucky. My life flashed before my eyes.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nhurt.html
 
A £30 bet brings home £65,000 pot

A man who put a total bet of £30 on the top three horses in the Grand National has won £65,000.

Jason Darmody, from Swindon, selected three horses to finish in the top four of the race.

Bookmakers William Hill said the win, which had an 11,848-to-one chance of coming in, was the biggest the company was aware of for this year's National.

He backed Mon Mome, Comply or Die and My Will, which finished first, second and third respectively.

"It seemed like an age before it flashed on the screen and I kept looking at my ticket," Mr Darmody said.

"I was looking at the screen then went, 'aargh I've won'."

The lucky gambler said he had gone to a party to watch the race.

"I knew I had the winner but I didn't know who came second and third," he said.

Mr Darmody telephoned a friend, who he said knew more about gambling.

He told him he believed Mr Darmody had won something between £50 and £100,000.

"I stood in the queue at the bookies and when I got to the front the man said 'this is really really big'," he said.

The manager of the shop asked him to step to one side.

"I thought, 'oh no don't say I've filled the form out wrong'," said Mr Darmody. :shock:

"He said if a race is more than 1.1 miles long they pay an extra 10%. :D

"I didn't sleep for a couple of days afterwards."

The horse Mon Mome won the Grand National on Saturday despite having odds of 100-1.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wilt ... 989249.stm
 
Dead cert: Family wins £20,000 on Grand National... after their dying father picked the 100/1 winner last YEAR
By Caroline Grant
Last updated at 9:56 AM on 09th April 2009

Some like to leave their children the family silver. Others tuck away money in a nest egg for their loved ones.
But Danny Shea's dying wish was a different breed altogether.
He gave his family a 100-1 tip for the Grand National - and won them £20,310 from beyond the grave.
The 66-year-old offshore rigger spotted the winning horse, Mon Mome, in last year's race and was impressed with its performance.

But, diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer, he knew he would not live to see this year's event and place the bet himself.
So he set aside £260 and made his family and five friends promise they would have a flutter on his behalf.
Mr Shea died five months ago - but on Saturday his dying wish came true as Mon Mome romped home to victory.

His 63-year-old widow, Pat, said: 'He was generally pretty useless at picking winners. He did not have much of a clue, but he liked to put a bet on.
'He watched Mon Mome race in the Grand National last year and straightaway he was adamant it would be a winner, if there was soft ground.'

In the end the going was good to soft - and Mr Shea's hunch was proved right.

Mrs Shea kept the £260 in a shoebox at their home in Eston, near Middlesbrough, until the time came.
They laid a complicated range of bets, with Mr Shea allocating £20 each, except for Mrs Shea, who had £60.
The other winners were son Martin, daughter Lesley, sisters Pat and Gloria, brother-in-law Pete and the five friends.

'We were in a pub having a meal and watching the race,' said Mrs Shea. 'The best we hoped for was a place.
'To be honest I can't remember much, I don't even think we cheered it on. I know we were all crying and the young lads in the bar must have thought we were mad - poor pensioners losing their pennies!'
The largest share of the winnings went to Mrs Shea, who visited the local cemetery on Sunday to thank her husband.
She said: 'It was all pretty amazing. People are saying, "how did he know?" but he was completely convinced.

'I was glad when the notes were out of the house and the bets were made.
'I have to say I thought, "what a waste of money" - but it's what Danny wanted.'

Mrs Shea has not yet decided what to spend the money on, but wants to give some to the grandchildren and to Mr Shea's nieces and nephews.
'It was the thought of the bet which kept Danny going through his cancer,' she added.

The Shea family did much better from Liam Treadwell's shock win on Mon Mome than the jockey's own mother.
Lorraine Treadwell picked up £50 after she placed just 50p on her 23-year-old son to win at Aintree.
She said: 'I did not want to bet any more in case I jinxed Liam and because the odds were so long I did not think he had much of a chance, especially as this was his first National.'

Mon Mome is the longest-priced horse to win the Grand National since Foinavon won in 1967 at the same odds

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -YEAR.html
 
If you have a fear of heights, I should give this story a miss!

Buckle up: How a lucky truck driver ended up HERE - and survived
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 4:36 PM on 15th April 2009

If ever there was an image to convince people to buckle up, this is it.
A lucky truck driver had a miraculous escape when his lorry smashed through crash barriers and was left dangling 100ft over the ground.
But Zhian Feng escaped with his life - because he was wearing his seat belt.
Feng said the only reason he did not fall out his open window was that he was wearing a seatbelt
Terrified Feng watched helplessly as his container plunged onto the street below in Chengdu, China, while his cab hung onto the barrier by just its front bumper. :shock:

Witness Lu Wi said: 'We heard an amazing bang and went out to see what was happening.
'We saw a lorry hanging over the bridge, and a man in his 40s struggling to climb out.
'When he got out the driver said he was lucky he had his seat belt on or he'd have fallen straight out of his open window.'

Local residents reportedly said the accident happened on a narrow stretch of road with a sharp turn which was only suitable for smaller vehicles.

They said it was not the first time lorries had had accidents there - but local road management officials insisted they were not to blame.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... vived.html
 
Lucky schoolboy finds seven leaf clover
A nine-year-old boy is hoping for some luck, after finding a rare seven leaf clover.
Published: 7:00AM BST 09 Jun 2009

Alastair Barnes discovered the unusual clover at Coombe Bissett nature reserve, near Salisbury, Wilts while out walking his dog with his father Jonathan.

Clovers occasionally have leaves with four leaflets, instead of the usual three - these are considered lucky, while five and six leaf clovers are considered even more unusual.

Alastair has placed the clover in a book to protect it from damage and in the hope it will bring him some good luck.

"I was really hoping to find a four leaf clover when I spotted one with seven leaves," he said.

"I was amazed and I immediately shouted to my dad, 'daddy daddy, I've found a seven leaf cover.'

"He didn't believe me at first but then he came over and had a look for himself.

"I picked it and took it home. It was amazing to find something so rare - I was so happy."

Sue Tatman, from the Wildlife Trust said: "This is an extremely unusual find.

"It just goes to show it is always worth keeping your eyes peeled when you are outside, as nature is full of surprises."

According to tradition, four-leaf clovers bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally.

Each leaflet is said to represent something - the first is for hope, the second faith, the third love, and the fourth luck.

Another Irish legend tells that the three leaf clover, or "Shamrock", was what Saint Patrick used to represent the Holy Trinity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... lover.html
 
This story is not quite what you might guess from the headline:

Skier saved from death plunge by Blackberry
A skier who slipped into a crevasse in the Swiss Alps was saved from falling 700ft to his death by his Blackberry mobile phone.
By Murray Wardrop
Published: 6:50AM BST 29 Jun 2009

David Fitzherbert's half-inch wide handset in his breast pocket caused him to get wedged in a crack of ice, stopping him from falling further.

Remarkably, the phone still worked after keeping him stuck for two hours until a mountain rescue team winched him to safety.

Mr Fitzherbert, 52, was skiing off-piste down a glacier in the Matterhorn and Monterosa peaks when he fell into the crevasse.

The married finance worker from Kensington, west London, told The Sun: "After 70 feet it narrowed and I became stuck like a cork in a bottle between the walls.

"Fortunately, the extra inches of the Blackberry were enough to block the fall."

Mr Fitzherbert broke his jaw, damaged his teeth, broke a bone in his chest and nearly had his nose ripped off in the fall. :shock:

However, his mountain guide made a distress call and rescue workers came to cut him out of the ice.

Mr Fitzherbert added: "I was stuck so fast that they had to get a drill and dig away at the ice around me.

"I was eventually winched out by a helicopter rescue team."

Suffering from severe hypothermia, he was airlifted to hospital in Bern, Switzerland, where surgeons reattached his nose.

Despite the accident, his Blackberry still worked and he used it to call his wife during the 10 days he spent in hospital.

He added: "It was still working well enough for me to tell her I was alive. I couldn't believe it."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... berry.html
 
This baby's fairy godmother worked wonders here:

Baby survives after train hits pram
CCTV footage captures moment pram rolls in front of train as mother looks on in horror
Mark Tran guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 October 2009 10.16 BST

[CCTV footage of the baby's pram rolling in front of the train ]

The CCTV footage shows a baby's pram rolling off a train platform as the mother makes a desperate lunge to save her son, but she is too late and it tumbles on to the rails in front of an incoming train.

This heart-stopping scene happened yesterday at Ashburton station in Melbourne, Australia. But the story has a happy ending: the six-month-old baby survived with just a cut on his forehead, although the pram was dragged about 35 metres by the braking train.

Paramedic Jon Wright said the boy just "needed a feed and a nap".

"Luckily, he was strapped into his pram at the time, which probably saved his life. I think the child's extremely lucky," Wright told the Herald Sun newspaper after the baby was taken to hospital with only minor injuries.

The footage shows the mother taking her hands off the three-wheeler pram, which begins to roll towards the platform edge. In an episode eerily reminiscent of Eisenstein's famous scene from Battleship Potemkin the pram eludes her outstretched arms and tips front-first on to the tracks as other horrified passengers rush to her side.

The driver slammed on the brakes as soon as he saw the pram tumble in front of him and fortunately the train was already slowing down to stop at the station.

Rail firm Connex is to investigate how the pram rolled off the platform and the train driver will be offered counselling. The accident came one day after Connex launched a child safety awareness campaign warning parents to keep infants strapped into their prams at all times while on platforms.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oc ... -hits-pram[/i]
 
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