Walter Summerford is not a name that rings a bell, but his story is one of the most bizarre in history. He was known as the unluckiest man in the world, struck by lightning four times—three times during his lifetime and once after his death.

Some say it was just terrible luck, while others insist he was cursed.

The first lightning strike was during World War I, when Summerford led as an officer in the British Army. On the Belgian front, while commanding his men, a lightning bolt hit him, throwing him off his horse, and he had been left paralysed from his waist down. He survived but ended his military career then.

In 1924, Summerford had just started anew in Canada. He found happiness with fishing, having completely thought that he had left all his misfortunes behind. Fate otherwise caught up. It was sitting under a tree by the water when another lightning bolt struck, this time travelling through the tree and into his body. This time, however, the strike had an unusual effect on him: within days, he regained some movement in his legs.

By 1930, he was walking around and enjoying newfound freedom. For a third time, lightning chose him. Out walking in the park, thunder started to crackle. On his third collision, he had a bolt all his own—a third bolt had paralysed him absolutely. He ended up spending his final two years living in an endless state of terror, sensing that something bad beyond luck played with him.

Walter died in 1932 and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver. But his story didn't end there. In 1936, four years after his death, a storm hit the cemetery. A lightning bolt struck once again—this time, it shattered his gravestone.