Coincidence or fate, no matter which one you believe in, can sometimes defy imagination and turn someone’s life into something that makes fictional stories look more realistic. A few of the accounts we’ve listed below about some of the unluckiest people in history are sad, while others are funny and absurd. But either way, they are bound to make you think you have it much better than they ever did.

1 Adolphe Sax, the inventor of saxophone, had a three-story fall hitting his head on a stone, drank a bowl of vitriolized water, was burnt in gunpowder explosion, fell onto a hot cast iron frying pan, was poisoned and suffocated by the varnish in own bedroom, was hit on the head by cobblestone, and almost drowned in a river.

Adolphe Sax’s parents were musical instrument designers, something he learned and started working on at an early age. He had great success in inventing and designing instruments and he is the inventor of the saxophone. However, his childhood was filled with many near-death experiences, earning him the nickname “little Sax, the ghost” among his neighbors. He was also driven to bankruptcy twice, suffered from lip cancer and recovered from it, and died in complete poverty despite his success.(source)

2 A man named Walter Summerford was struck by lightning 3 times in his life. Four years after his death, his gravestone was struck by lightning as well.

Walter Summerford was a sportsman, a fact that increased his chances of being hit by lightning, which apparently happened 3 times in his lifetime. His record was beaten by another man, Roy Sullivan, who was struck by lightning 7 times during his lifetime. However, what makes Summerford special, is that in 1916, four years after his death, his gravestone was struck as well, making it a fourth time.(source)

3 One of the co-founders of Apple, Ronald Wayne, sold his 10 percent stakes for $800 and left because he found it hard to work with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Had he stayed on, he would be worth $35 billion now.

When he was 42, Ronald Wayne co-founded Apple along with Steven Jobs and Steven Wozniak and even drew the first Apple logo. But, Wayne felt that he couldn’t cope with Jobs’ dark side. He felt that Jobs was manipulative, stubborn about his decisions, and very bent getting where he wants to. However, he said that he doesn’t regret his decision and that it allowed him to pursue his interests.(source)

4 A woman named Jeanne Rogers slipped off a ship’s deck into the water and when a friend ran to help she slipped as well knocking herself unconscious. She was also struck by lightning twice, almost got strangled to death by her husband, mugged, had a bat stuck in her hair with the neighbors only screaming instead of helping, and accidentally pulled down the pants of Fred Rogers of the children’s show, Mister Rogers Neighborhood.

In 1967, Jeanne Rogers was on a cruise with her friend trying to take pictures by the rails on a rainy day when the unfortunate drowning incident happened. Again in 1971, when she was struck by lightning, her shoes were blown off, a small hole was burned in her ankle, her pantyhose melted on her legs and the nerve damage was so severe that she found herself unable to wear shoes. Two years later, she was struck by another bolt of lightning because of a metal bracelet she was wearing. In 1981, her husband came home drunk and tried to strangle her to death. Later, while she was swimming at the Hartford, Connecticut, she heard an announcement for “Rogers”. Then, while leaving the swimming pool to go to the front desk, she inadvertently pulled down the pants of Fred Rogers who was also there.(source)

5 In 2001, a couple from England, Jason and Jenny Cairns-Lawrence, went on a holiday to New York when the World Trade Center was attacked. Later on July 7, 2005, they went on another holiday to London when four British suicide bombers attacked the underground and the bus network. Again in 2008, they were in Mumbai when the city was attacked by terrorists on the night of November 26.

The couple became famous, or infamous, for the bizarre way their vacations coincided with terrorist attacks when a reporter from DNA newspaper first reported his conversation. Their recent vacation was in Mumbai and they were staying Colaba area when the attacks that killed nearly 180 people happened. The death toll for 9/11 was over 3,000 people, while the London attacks had 52 deaths and 700 people were injured.(source)

6 On December 22, 2011, a man named Costis Mitsotakis became the only person not to win the lottery in a town of 250 people who won at least £83,000 for each ticket, with a total of £600 million because he forgot to buy a £4-ticket.

The Greek filmmaker, Costis Mitsotakis, became the only man in the small Spanish town Sodeto not to win the Christmas mega draw called El Gordo or the Big/Fat One. There were 1,800 winning tickets that year with each ticket costing £16 but subdivided into four participations costing £4 each. The residents of the town bought a ticket bearing the first prize winning number 58,268. Of the total £600 million, the town won £100 million, with some people winning £83,000 after buying a single share, while some others who bought more than one won millions.(source)