While getting hit by lightning, for instance, sounds soooo unlikely, the chance of it happening is never zero. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are less than one in a million, however, the person holding the record in the US has been struck seven times in their lifetime. Talk about bad luck.
If you think that’s unlikely to happen, buckle up for today’s list, as it’s dedicated to even more mind-blowing occurrences that happened despite the odds. Continue scrolling to find redditors’ stories, which they shared after ‘Plus-Statistician80’ asked them about statistically improbable things that happened to them, and see that it’s not only bad luck but funny coincidences, too, that can happen despite being unlikely.
#1
Not me but my old neighbour, let's call him Jimmy. He and his wife decide to go on a once in a lifetime trip to Australia and New Zealand. At one point he's driving through a really remote part of New Zealand and his hire car breaks down. This was before mobile phones. No other cars on the road and just endless countryside around him. So he sets off for the one building he can see, some farm further down the road and about a mile up its own driveway. He finally reaches it, knocks the door and a woman answers. She took one look at him and said "What the hell are you doing here Jimmy?".
She went to the same school as him, in the same tiny village in the UK. She had emigrated 30+ years before and ended up on this remote farm.
Image credits: interesuje
#2
Favorite Chinese restaurant in Ohio. Went to Hawaii. Tasted pepper steak at restaurant and mentioned to the owner it tasted the same as the one in Ohio. Owner was the brother of the owner of the Ohio restaurant. .
Image credits: bearpie1214
#3
When I was on holiday as a kid in Ireland our car broke down going up a hill. A farmer came out and towed us back to the cottage we were staying at.
The next year we were driving up the same hill and the car broke down again in the same place. The same farmer came out of his house and said ‘Didn’t I see you here last year?’.
Image credits: EconomyPiglet438
In a recent interview with Bored Panda, the user ‘Plus-Statistician80’ shared that they wanted to ask a question that would garner a solid variety of responses. And it sure did.
Redditors' stories covered everything from winning the lottery (the chances of which are close to zero), to meeting an old acquaintance million miles away from where they used to hang out (which isn’t that common of an occurrence either), among other things.
#4
Not me, but i had a phonecall with my grandma recently and she told me that she and her husband went on a trip the other day. They sat down on a table which they thought was free but a few moments later another couple the same age came through and said they already occupied the table but they could sit there together and drink coffee or something. So they did and my grandmother and the other woman started to talk and got to the point where the other woman mentioned her surname for some reason, which happened not only to be uncommon but also seemed familiar to my grandma. It turned out, that the other woman and my grandma were neighbors in a small german village back then, but during world war 2 had to leave. Over 80 years later they met again because my grandma sat down on an occupied table hundreds of kilometers away from the village they come from.
Image credits: halbraum6er
#5
I started playing World of Warcraft when it launched and I was living in California at the time. A year and a half later I moved across the country to a very small town in Tennessee. The kind where the population doubles when college is in session.
I was playing the game and while waiting on a guild meeting the guildies started saying where they were from. One guy who I was buddies with said he was in the same small town I was currently in. Then the same part of town. Then the same apartment complex. Then the same building. He was two doors down from me, part of a row of townhouses.
I said “Hold on, step outside.” and a moment later we were staring each other in the face. Countless hours spent playing together not realizing we were only separated by a single neighbor’s room. We became great friends and hung out in and outside the game for several years until I moved back to California.
Image credits: BlueShift42
#6
My Jeep was stolen and then taken by the thieves to the gas station where I was working to fill up on gas.
Image credits: twilling8
“Specific events are generally unique to the individual so I thought this would be a great question,” the redditor told Bored Panda, adding that the things they found the most surprising about the netizens’ answers were how close some of them came to death and how small the world was.
#7
My son and I watched the eclipse in Wyoming on August 21, 2017.
He asked when the next would be. Aside from the recent one in April 2024, we discovered there will be one in our hometown on August 12, 2045.
He noticed the he would be about the same age on that date, as I was during the Wyoming eclipse. I was 41, and he will be 41 at the one in the future.
We did the math...
As it turns out, on August 21, 2017 I was 15,206 days old.
On August 12, 2045, my son will be 15,206 days old.
I sure hope to enjoy it with him!
Image credits: Gundark927
#8
Surviving a drowning having been gone for 12-15 minutes, resuscitated, 2 days on life support, lost a third of my bodyweight and walked out of the hospital less than a week later. Full clean bill of health two weeks after that. No permanent damage.
Image credits: Ambitious_Handle8123
#9
I took my kids on family vacation to the beach, and my car was kinda acting up the entire time. I had a 2010 Chevy Traverese, and it kept not wanting to start, but I jumped it and started heading home after a week of babying it.
Anyway, I was in Ocean shores, headed back to central WA, about 6 hours away. As I head through Olympia, the car just gives up and dies. So I pull off to the side of the road, and a big truck pulling a camper pulls up behind me. He said he could jump me, and he did. Car started and was doing great. About 15 minutes later, I hear a loud thunk, and car dies, this time permanently. So I pull over. About 20 minutes go by, and again, the same trunk pulls over. I am at this point 5 hours away from home. Guy said, "we'll look like it's done for, but if you tell me where you live, I can take you most of the way. I tell him my city, and he laughs, and says Me too!. I asked what street he lives on, and apparently, he lived four houses down. So I packed what I could into his camper, and he took me, my wife, and three kids home. I made sure to thank him and every Thanksgiving and Christmas brought him either a turkey or a ham, for my appreciation.
Well, several years later and divorced. I meet my current girlfriend. My Tahoe needed the wheel bearings replaced and I was so busy, I had no time to do it myself. Especially working 80 some hours a week at times. So I wanted to pay someone for it. She tells me her dad has a friend and he would do it fairly reasonably if I buy parts. So I do, and she takes me to his shop. Same dude that helped me years ago. I get out of the car and give him a big hug. Tell him I would pay whatever he wants and left my Tahoe there. I ended up also giving him a gift card to a fancy local restaurant for his trouble.
About 6 months later, I was trying to pull out a cat from under a car in a smoldering hot parking lot as it was stray and very tiny, and the temps were over 110 degrees on black top. So I chased this kitten right under a truck, and the driver waiting for his wife steps out, there he is again.
Every time I have needed help innthe past few years, it seems like he is always there. Dude might be Jesus or something. Not like I lived in a crazy small town. Over 400k people in my city. I have went 30 years without running into people that visit the same places I do.
Discussing things that were unlikely to happen but did to the OP themselves, the redditor admitted having a police helicopter light them up in their car once with a bright spotlight and red and blue lights. “I pulled over and waited for what I assumed was a swat team coming to get me,” they shared.
“I waited a few minutes and then the lights went off and it flew off,” the netizen recalled, adding that the statistically improbable part was that they had just actually committed an offense. “I really thought I was done for; but nope… [It was a] wrong person or maybe they were bored and messing with me.”
#10
I was walking down the sidewalk when some scaffolding gave and almost crashed down on me. Fortunately, someone shoved me out of the way. Ten years later a bus lost its brakes and nearly hit me but someone pulled me to safety. The weird part? It was the same person that saved me both times.
#11
Stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge, I looked in my rearview mirror and realized my parents were in the car right behind me. They lived in a different state. Completely random chance.
Could be worse. My buddy has been struck by lightning twice, and - independently of that - once woke up naked in a morgue with a toe tag on.
EDIT: Not a prank. He’d been surfing with his partner, got hit by a wave, and the bungee attaching him to his board got snagged on a rock underwater. He remembers seeing the surface but not being able to reach it. His partner fished him out, called 911, and did CPR for about 45 minutes until the paramedics arrived. They said “nope, he’s gone.” She said “are you sure, because I thought…” They said “Nope.” So they bagged and tagged him.
And then he woke up in the morgue.
Cold water. No permanent damage, but you can bet that the law suit paid for his chef’s training.
Image credits: SerpentineRPG
#12
I gave birth to my daughter on my birthday. Roughly three years later, I gave birth to my son on his father's birthday.
Image credits: Medium_Salamander929
#13
Back in 2004, I had been hitchhiking around out west for a couple of months. Summer was coming to an end, though, and I was planning on making my way back to Indiana where my parents lived. I was on the Oregon coast when I got picked up by a biology teacher, we'll call him Scott, from New York.
Scott was on his summer break doing hikes in different parks out west, but was also about to start his trek back home. Since Indiana was on the way, I asked if I could tag along and maybe get dropped off in Indiana. He said he had a few more hikes and peaks planned, but if I was okay with that, I was welcome to join him.
We went to Mt. Hood and South Sister in Oregon, Canyonlands down in Utah, a couple of peaks in Colorado, and he took me all the way back to Indiana and dropped me off at my parents house. It was a wonderful time and we exchanged emails to keep in touch. Time went on, and the emails became much less frequent, but every now and then, one of us would reach out and check in.
In 2015, I moved to Boise, Idaho. Sometime in 2016 or 2017, I checked that old email address of mine and, sure enough, there was an email from Scott asking how I was doing. I replied and told him how I was in Idaho now and gave him my phone number as that was a much easier way to get ahold of me.
About 30 minutes after I sent that email, I got a text from Scott. He said that was amazing and that I should come over to Payette Brewery and have a beer with him. He lived in Boise, too! But it gets even crazier.
I couldn't join him right then, but we agreed to get together later that evening. Scott invited me over to his house and sent me his address. When I typed it into google maps I was in shock. He only lived 3 blocks away from me! We were neighbors!
Image credits: reddit-me-elmo
#14
I had my SO's aunt (on their dad's side) show us Tillamook Ice cream for the first time ever. Never heard of it, never tried it. It was good though! We had Caramel toffee cruch flavor.
The next day later, someone at work randomly brought everyone ice cream... it was Tillamook... Caramel toffee crunch flavor. (They have never brought us ice cream before, this was entirely random and out of nowhere)
Litterally the day after that, we saw my SO's Mom (their mom and dad are divorced and don't talk), anywho, she had something she just HAD to show us... it was Tillamook... specifically, Caramel toffee crunch flavor.
Finally, the next day, we had to see my parents. They didn't have it, but my mom asked us if we ever tried Tillamook, "because it's really creamy, I like the Caramel toffee flavor".
I felt like I was in a groundhog day themed ice cream ad.
Image credits: SadPandaFromHell
#15
I was in the WTC both times it got attacked... 1993 and 2001.. so guess what tourist attraction I will not visit.. I am not giving them another shot at me.
Image credits: CapAdvantagetutor
#16
I won $30,000 from a slot machine and paid off all my student loans that week.
Image credits: invent_or_die
#17
Car was broken into, everything stolen including handbag in boot with wedding ring and engagement ring. Bag was found in a field weeks later and handed into police and we were called to see if it was ours. There had been a hole in the pocket where the rings were and they had fallen into it and were still there.
Image credits: DucktapeCorkfeet
#18
I worked at a funeral home and was cleaning out the basement. Found an old photo of a newly wed couple that must've been left at a service, or left at a graveside and collected. The date on the back of the photo was the same day I found it, 60-some years later. Pretty wild but not unbelievable.
Then, about an hour later a very elderly man walks in the lobby. It's none other than the husband from the photo, ready to begin pre-planning his own funeral arrangements. Both of us were in tears when I showed him the photo of him and his wife.
Image credits: BoazCorey
#19
A car with the next license plate number parked next to me.
Image credits: justahdewd
#20
In Eastern North Carolina I overheard a table speaking German when I was waiting tables in college. I was learning to speak German at the time and decided to just say hello or something to them.
Come to find out they were living in the US at the time, and after fast-forwarding 10 years we've got several European trips together and they're some of my closest friends!
If I hadn't just said a simple hello in a language I was learning, I never would have had most of my international experiences and connections.
Image credits: DramaticCattleDog
#21
Had a baby with a life threatening birth defect. Only 1600 babies a year are born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, my little girl being one of them. We’re incredibly fortunate that she survived and is thriving.
#22
Got attacked by a robin in the morning, then attacked by a hawk 3 hours later. Weird day.
Image credits: StarrySophiee
#23
I dropped a quarter. I was busy looking for something in my pocket and I didn't watch where it rolled to. I was on a blacktop driveway so I didn't think I would have trouble finding it. When I started to look for it I couldn't find it anywhere. Finally I decided to drop another quarter and direct it in the same direction I knew the other one had rolled. I watched the second quarter roll up to the house and underneath the screen door. I figured "oh, ok thats where the first quarter is also. I went over to the screen door and opened it up.....only one quarter! I'm thinking where the heck is that first quarter. I bent down to pick up my second quarter and there were two quarters. The second quarter had landed directly on top of the first quarter! Under the screen door. Dropped from about 15 feet away!
#24
Jumped off a boat while docked in Cabo. Probably 20 feet deep water. Didn’t realize for hours later than my Apple Watch had come off. Panicked and immediately started to cope with the fact it was gone. The captain said “I’ll go get it.” Hopped in the water w goggles and flipper. 15 min later popped up with it. Said he followed the anchor line down and the current to determine where I must have hit the water when I jumped in. Scanned the area briefly and located it. Already had it in water mode and it was completely unharmed. Absolutely incredible. Tipped well that charter.
#25
On Reddit, someone found a camera memory card in Australia and posted some photos from it to help find the owner. The photos were of my co-worker in Los Angeles.
Image credits: dirtyfacedkid
#26
Years ago I matched with someone on a dating site and we both discovered that we live in exactly the same suburb. That isn't the improbable statistic, what really blew our minds was when talking about our pets.
We discovered that we both have a cat called Ramone, that we PREVIOUSLY named Ramona before realising weeks later after getting them that they were not infact female. Wild coincidence ?.
Image credits: FreyaDeeCat
#27
I lived. Doctors told my parents they would be surprised if I made it to 2, then 5, then 10, 18. After 18 I was out of the woods and had a whole life left to live.
#28
Not me.
My oldest son quit HS with 6 wks to go, went back after a year, got his diploma, then went to college, has to waste a year due to an auto accident, had a failed relationship, had a daughter which he eventually got custody of.
Took 7 years to complete college.
Now has an MBA and is a director of sourcing for an international chemical company.
Was kind of a wild ride.
He tells young people that he's living proof that you can screw things up massively and turn it around if you really want to.
#29
My stolen bike was recovered by police. The thief was arrested and jailed. It was a miracle of a series of fortunate events.
Edit:
Since this comment has gained some traction, I decided to give you guys the story.
In 2009, I recently bought a pretty distinctive bike (2008 Bianchi San Jose) and decided to ride it to work. I worked in Downtown Brooklyn in an area called Metro Tech, which is a series of 20ish story buildings and a public common area run by JP Morgan Chase. I locked my bike at a rack between the buildings at 9am. When I went to leave at 5pm, the bike was gone. After collecting myself from the shock of my new bike being stolen, I went over to the security office for Metrotech. The person manning the front desk heard my story, but pretty much threw his hands up and said there’s no hope. However, while we were chatting a guy in a suit walks into the area and says he runs security for the entire complex. He asks me a few questions and says he’s going to review some of the security footage, but he can’t promise anything. I thank him and go home. I make some posts to some NYC bicycle forums that night with pics. I was thoroughly depressed.
The next day, I take a little break from work and walk over to the police precinct and file a report about 10am. Of course, this being NYC, the lady taking the statement treated me like I was wasting her time. This kind of stuff happens all the time. However, around 3pm I was sitting at my desk at work and get a call from a guy with a thick Brooklyn accent.
*Is this u/Silent_Beautiful_738?
Yes
*Do you own a Bianchi Bicycle?
Yes
*Does it have a sticker on it? What does it say?
Yes? Robert’s Bicycles Bayside Queens.
*We have your bike. Meet me at the precinct.
Get to the precinct. I identify the bike. They say the guy who stole it is being booked, and they tell me the story.
NYC has these “undercover” cops that kind of roam around in unmarked cars and surprise people. Well these cops just happened to be driving around Park Slope area, which is kind of a wealthier area, and see this guy with a brand new bike and a piece of notebook paper taped to the front saying $200. They stop and jump out. They start grilling him. “Is that your bike? Where did you get it? Etc” The guy was obviously lying through his teeth, but they couldn’t do anything about it. There was no proof. They get back in the car and drive off. As they’re driving, they get a radio call to head to Metrotech Security.
When they get there, the head of security says he has footage of a guy stealing a bicycle. The image of the man and the bike are clear. The bike has distinctive stripes on it, so there’s no way to mistake it. The cops view the footage and holy s**t, it’s the f*****g guy they just stopped. They get the footage and haul a*s back to the corner where they saw the guy and what-do you-know, he’s still there. The arrest him. Confiscate the bike. Since they have the video, the police report, and personally witnessed him trying to sell it, I got my bike back immediately and never had to go to court.
What are the odds that the head of security walks into that security office, finds the footage, and the same exact cops who see the thief are called to review the footage? Why did the thief stay at the same corner? Why didn’t he remove the sticker? F*****g miraculous.
After all this, I got some messages from the bicycle forums from people in Park Slope who saw the guy trying to sell the bike. Apparently, he was getting a lot of s**t from passersby because he was obviously hocking stolen goods.
Image credits: Silent_Beautiful_738
#30
Not me, but a friend married a guy named Joe. After they got married she moved into his house that he already owned. Years later they divorce and she moves out. Then a few years after that she meets and marries another guy named Joe who owns a house on that exact same street!
They’re still happily married living in Joe #2’s house a few blocks away from Joe #1’s house. We joke that her first marriage was off by only a few house numbers.
Image credits: Kitchen-Muscle-9035
