time
Storage? I am Storage!
A man who cheated death seven times and had four failed marriages has refused to leave Croatia to fly to Australia to film a commercial because he fears it could tempt fate. Croatian Frane Selaks has been signed by Smith's Snackfood company in Australia to star in a commercial for Doritos, but the 75-year-old resisted the temptation to hop on another plane. Instead, a film crew flew to Zagreb to record Selaks, known as "Lucky" to his friends.
"I never had any accidents while travelling on a boat or a ship so I thought about going there that way but it would have taken a month and my wife would not want me to be away for that long," he said. "I didn't want to risk another accident while I was travelling by air. Despite my refusal to travel there they still wanted me as the star. They wanted someone who could prove that being a winner wasn't all about luck."
Selaks' first escape came in 1962 when a train travelling from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik jumped the rails and plunged into an icy river. Seventeen people drowned, but Selaks made it to the riverbank suffering hypothermia, shock, bruises and a broken arm.
A year later, he was thrown out of a DC-8 plane between Zagreb and Rijeka when a door flew open. This time 19 people died but Selaks landed in a haystack and escaped with cuts, bruises and shock.
In 1966, four passengers were killed when a bus in Split lurched into a river, but Selaks swam to safety with cuts, bruises and even more shock.
In 1970, his car caught fire as he drove along a motorway. He leapt out seconds before the fuel tank exploded.
Three years later, he lost most of his hair when a faulty fuel pump spewed petrol over the hot engine of his Wartburg car and blew flames through the air vents.
In 1995, he was knocked down by a bus in Zagreb, but sustained only minor injuries - plus the inevitable shock.
His last brush with death came in 1996 when he was driving in the mountains and turned a corner to see a UN truck coming straight for him.His Skoda car crashed through the barrier and over the edge but Selaks jumped out and landed in a tree to see his car explode 90 metres below him.
"I was either the world's unluckiest man or the luckiest. I preferred to believe the latter," said Selaks, from Petrinja in central Croatia.
And that proved true last year when he won Stg600,000 (US$1 million) with the first lottery ticket he bought in his life.
He believes having a fifth wife 20 years his junior and becoming an actor at 75 are a couple more pieces of good luck.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9419661%5E13762,00.html
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_791349.html?menu=news
"I never had any accidents while travelling on a boat or a ship so I thought about going there that way but it would have taken a month and my wife would not want me to be away for that long," he said. "I didn't want to risk another accident while I was travelling by air. Despite my refusal to travel there they still wanted me as the star. They wanted someone who could prove that being a winner wasn't all about luck."
Selaks' first escape came in 1962 when a train travelling from Sarajevo to Dubrovnik jumped the rails and plunged into an icy river. Seventeen people drowned, but Selaks made it to the riverbank suffering hypothermia, shock, bruises and a broken arm.
A year later, he was thrown out of a DC-8 plane between Zagreb and Rijeka when a door flew open. This time 19 people died but Selaks landed in a haystack and escaped with cuts, bruises and shock.
In 1966, four passengers were killed when a bus in Split lurched into a river, but Selaks swam to safety with cuts, bruises and even more shock.
In 1970, his car caught fire as he drove along a motorway. He leapt out seconds before the fuel tank exploded.
Three years later, he lost most of his hair when a faulty fuel pump spewed petrol over the hot engine of his Wartburg car and blew flames through the air vents.
In 1995, he was knocked down by a bus in Zagreb, but sustained only minor injuries - plus the inevitable shock.
His last brush with death came in 1996 when he was driving in the mountains and turned a corner to see a UN truck coming straight for him.His Skoda car crashed through the barrier and over the edge but Selaks jumped out and landed in a tree to see his car explode 90 metres below him.
"I was either the world's unluckiest man or the luckiest. I preferred to believe the latter," said Selaks, from Petrinja in central Croatia.
And that proved true last year when he won Stg600,000 (US$1 million) with the first lottery ticket he bought in his life.
He believes having a fifth wife 20 years his junior and becoming an actor at 75 are a couple more pieces of good luck.
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9419661%5E13762,00.html
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_791349.html?menu=news
