Roy Sullivan survived seven lightning strikes in 35 years, earning a Guinness World Record as the man struck most times

A lightning strike is usually a terrifying, potentially fatal encounter. For Roy Sullivan, it became an extraordinary recurring experience. The Virginia park ranger was struck by lightning seven times between 1942 and 1977, surviving every incident and earning a place in Guinness World Records as the person who survived the most lightning strikes. His encounters left him with burns, singed hair and injuries, and eventually earned him the nickname “Spark Ranger”, according to Guinness World Records.Sullivan’s first brush with lightning came in April 1942, when he was working at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. He was at a fire lookout tower when a storm set the structure ablaze. As he attempted to escape, lightning struck him in the right leg. The bolt left a scorch mark, tore through his boot and damaged the nail on his big toe.It was an experience that might have made most people wary of storms for the rest of their lives. Sullivan, though, would encounter lightning six more times over the next 35 years.A series of increasingly bizarre encountersFor 27 years after the first incident, Sullivan reportedly went without another strike. That changed in July 1969, when he was driving his truck along a mountain road during a storm. Lightning struck trees nearby before travelling through the vehicle’s open windows.