Think you're unlucky?
You ain't got nothing on
this poor bastard.
A GRANDAD has survived a gas explosion, been run over twice, walked away from a ten-car pile-up and suffered a heart attack – where he “died” 17 times.
Ian Francis, 48, went blind at age 24, underwent a brain op, had a kidney removed, been electrocuted, narrowly escaped an IRA bomb attack — and his guide dog ran away.
“I must be the luckiest bloke in Britain to still be here after all that.”
Ian’s latest near-miss came on Valentine’s Day.
After suffering a heart attack, Ian ‘died’ 17 times in the ambulance as paramedics battled to bring back from the brink
A gas canister exploded in his neighbour’s home in Oxford, causing a three-storey block of six flats to collapse.
One resident died.
Ian, who lives with girlfriend Sammy Clark, 34, said: “Our block is attached to it and nearly fell down as well.
“Luckily we’d popped out to the shops.”
Ian's timeline of misfortune
- Ian’s bad luck began in 1989 when he an electric shock from a TV he was fixing threw him across the room.
- Three years later he was electrocuted again by a faulty socket.
- Ian’s last scrape with death came after he dodged a killer blast on Valentine’s Day. Despite missing the blast after popping to the shops, Ian was left homeless
A gas canister exploded in his neighbour’s home in Oxford, causing a three-storey block of six flats to collapse
He said: “I was rushed to hospital with burns on my hand.
- "It was that year that I was registered blind. I was born partially sighted and it just got worse over the years.”
- In 1993 a stolen van ran him over.
- In 1996 he was in the next street as an IRA bomb injured 200 in Manchester.
- Two years later a growth was found on his brain. He said: “I said my goodbyes to my children.
“But they managed to take it out through my ear.”
Dad-of-five Ian joked: 'The Grim Reaper is after me. I keep telling him to bugger off'
- Another hit and run driver almost killed him in 2006.
- Months later he had a heart attack in the street.
He “died” 17 times in the ambulance as paramedics kept battling to bring back from the brink.
- The next month an accidental Prozac overdose left him in intensive care.
- Four years ago he survived a ten-car pile-up on the M4.
- In June 2015 his guide dog Toffee ran off for three days.
- In December he had his right kidney removed in a cancer scare.
- Last month he was fitted with a pacemaker. Then came the gas blast
Ian, who has six grandkids, said: “It’s crazy. But at least it gives me a few good stories to tell people.”