They consider the Croatian Frane Selak to be the luckiest man in the world. A music teacher, he survived World War II and emerged remarkably unscathed from numerous terrifying accidents over the years: his train derailed, killing 17 fellow passengers; the door of the plane he was on detached and 19 passengers died; four people perished when the bus he was travelling in plunged off a bridge. He quickly abandoned his car before it exploded, the fuel tank igniting on the motorway; he suffered minor injuries after being hit by a bus; he jumped from a vehicle that was plummeting down a deep ravine and, caught on a tree, watched it burn at the bottom. Fortune smiled upon him in 2003: shortly after turning 74, he won €800,000 in the lottery; he died without further shocks at the age of 87. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was 29 years old on 6 August 1945; he was three kilometres from the zero point of Hiroshima, but his only injuries were minor: a perforated eardrum and burns on his torso. Back in his hometown of Nagasaki, he was recounting the traumatic experience when the new explosion occurred. He is recorded as the only survivor of the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan. He lived for 93 years.
Chance? There are countless cases of extraordinary luck, both positive and negative: becoming a millionaire on the first bet; years of playing without hitting a refund; some succeed with surprising ease, while others are struck by lightning while walking. Uncontrollable events occurring outside of one’s will, impossible to predict or explain, lead one to believe in esoteric designs, including random facts such as region or family of birth. Intrigues that have puzzled thinkers of all times and places: superstition for some; for others, destiny: one is born ‘with a star’ or ‘star-crossed’; according to some, the result of individual determination, combining a positive attitude and rigorous work.
Faced with the unknown, in an anguished search for signs, the imagination created an extensive array of objects to attract good luck or ward off misfortune, in accordance with beliefs, myths, and local cultures: amulets, numbers, animals... Although success or failure may depend on one’s attitude towards challenges or how one faces obstacles, no hypothesis clarifies the unusual experiences of Selak and Yamaguchi.♦