20 Rare "One-In-A-Million" Stories, As Shared By People In This Online Group

Be it some rare genetic disorder, a crazy lottery prize, or a miraculous recovery, certain things are beyond explanation. Some call it luck, some call it coincidence, but surprising things keep happening in the world all the time. When someone asked on r/AskReddit "Were you ever that 1 in 1,000,000? If so, what's your story?", many people shared their lucky and unlucky stories of being the target of the mysterious happenings in the universe. Scroll below to read some of them. More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: IAdventureTimeI, IAdventureTimeI "I had 8 wisdom teeth, the dentist had never seen anything like it and called the whole office in to marvel at my teeth."

#2

Image source: CaptchaGremlin, Denys Gromov "For my seventh birthday we went to Disneyland. They just happened to be having a car a day giveaway when we were there. For my seventh birthday, Mickey Mouse gave me a pontiac firebird."

#3

Image source: InNeedOfFriend, Ante Samarzija "I was diagnosed with leukemia i got a bacteria growth which killed the leukemia, a real 1 in 1,000,000 chance."

#4

Image source: Rainingwaen, Rainingwaen "I have symmetric bilateral coloboma of the iris and retina! Essentially, my pupils are shaped like keyholes instead of circles. A single coloboma is pretty rare, double coloboma is even more rare, and double symmetrical... well, you get it."

#5

Image source: king_with_a_k, 幻影多媒体 3D "This is my mum's story and I've posted it before but, she once called her friend (back in the day on the lan line) and another lady answered, my mum asks if her friend was there and the lady says "sure I'll get her", my mum's friend hops on the phone and asks "how she now she was here", turns out my mum got a number wrong when dialing, called a random house were someone was hosting a Tupperware party and my mum's friend just happened to be attending it!! What are the odds of that s**t?"

#6

Image source: anon, Lux Graves "I slept wrong one night and pinched a nerve in my neck so severely I lost the right side of my body, it just went silent like it wasn’t there for months. I woke up in the worst pain I’ve ever experienced and couldn’t talk, move or do anything. The ER doctor thought I was having a stroke. My doctor had never seen a case as severe as mine and it was purely a freak accident. Recovery took months but I have use of my leg and hand again, with some numbness. Other than pain and spasms I’m mostly back to normal."

#7

Image source: person978, Thom Holmes "I am allergic to the cold. like literally. i get intense hives, swelling, i pass out, and throw up. Doesn’t even have to be freezing. Below 45 degrees without a jacket and I can’t do it. I have to carry an epi pen with me in the event that I drink something too cold or have a severe reaction."

#8

"Idk if this counts but i have died. One night around 11 pm i was trying to fall asleep but was just too hungry. I had just taken sleeping meds so i tried to cook some food fast before they kicked in. Unfortunately when I went to eat I accidentally aspirated a bunch of it and passed out. Everyone in my house was asleep but amazingly my sister just so happened to go to the bathroom at 3am and saw my light on underneath my door so she decided to investigate. She found me on the ground in full code and blue as a blueberry. She called 911 and they walked her through CPR. When the first responders arrived I was still in full code for another 2 and a half minutes but eventually was brought back. I spent 3 days in a coma and like 10 days in the ICU. If she wouldnt have gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night i wouldnt be typing this." Image source: anon

#9

Image source: DuhRawChicken "A bird got into my room through a tiny hole in the ceiling and took a s**t on me."

#10

Image source: yusenye, wikimedia.commons "No sure about the odds on this one, but I survived a “non-survivable” plane crash. I was on an old po-2 (famous for being very safe and uncrushable) on a tour of the desert in western China when I was like 7, my father’s friend who hosted me and piloted the plane didn’t survive but somehow I got out with a concussion and apparently passed out for almost a day In the middle of the dessert, in the wreckage of the crash, 50 km from the town/airport, on the edge of the desert. The people who found me were some tree planters (they plant greens in the desert to protect towns from sandstorm, a lot of people live in these desert towns in China do this) found me on there way picking up a shipment, and the only reason they looked was bc they were making a bet on how fast the egg would cook in the sand and went off the road to test. So, according to my dads, the theory that I might have lived was because the plane was mostly made out of fabrics and wood. So when the plane crashed, the front half collapsed and took the majority of the impact. Though I got knocked out, I was probably covered under the wreckage and in the shades, it cooled me off enough to survive for a day or so!"

#11

Image source: anon, Michał Mancewicz "I was struck by lightning while talking on a landline. This was in the early 90s. Lightning struck the telephone line and traveled through the handset to my ear. My parents drove me to the ER. I couldn't talk very well. My brain knew what I wanted to say, but my mouth didn't want to say it. I had a terrible stutter. My doctor told me that I had had a 'dose of good, old fashioned electro-shock therapy'. My speech was normal the next day, but I get a terrible headache whenever a thunderstorm comes through."

#12

Image source: Dominusatrox, Stanley Morales "How I met my wife. I’m from the Netherlands, she is from the US. We met in Israel. It was my first weekend in Israel, decided to go on a pub crawl to meet some people and have fun, as I’m buying the ticket my now wife walks up to the counter to also buy a ticket. The girl working there introduces us, we hit it off the first night but I’m leaving in 2 days to stay with friends of friends in the middle of the desert for 3 months. 2 days after I leave I lose my phone, don’t have any way to get back in touch with her. I had little money and could stay/work with the people in the desert. But I kept thinking about her so after a week I say I’m leaving. Take the next bus (goes 3 times a week, at 5am) and then a train to Tel Aviv. I had no idea how to find her, where to stay and very little money. I email a couple hostels to find a work/stay agreement, those jobs are very popular and usually planned months in advance. I get an email back when I arrive in Tel Aviv, I can come in for an interview because they have a spot (this is already ridiculously lucky). Right after the interview and dropping of my belongings. I went back to the first hostel to see if they would give me information, they wouldn’t give me anything. Now I’m at a loss, Tel Aviv is a city of more than half a million people, I don’t know anyone and have little more than the clothes on my back. Kind of defeated I start wandering around/exploring the city. After a couple hours I get hungry and decide to treat myself to a restaurant. I’m well out of the tourist area and find a place that’s almost empty and rather cheap. I sit down, order a drink and something to eat. As I get my food I see my now wife walking past the restaurant, she sees me I see her. I’m literally dumb struck and just kind of grin and wave (remember how I lost my phone? She didn’t know that and just thought I ignored her) she waves and keeps walking. I throw like 200 shekels (way too much) in the table and sprint after her, explained and the rest is history."

#13

Image source: indiesnobs, Aditya Romansa "The first one I don't know about the exact odds, but I was born on 7/7/77 and weighed 7 pounds & 7 ounces. Sadly though I clocked in at 6:50 A.M. The other is that around the age of 14 I started to notice the outsides of both of my feet starting to get much wider. After a couple of years of buying expensive custom made shoes they decided to perform surgery on my feet. Turned out I had extra muscle growth along with something else I don't recall at the moment. My podiatrist told me he submitted a scholarly article on it. May also have been genetic as when my Dad was 3, he developed an extra toe growing out of each one of his big toes."

#14

Image source: Crippl, wikimedia.commons "No idea on the actual numbers, but I was born with 12 fingers. Identical extra digits on each hand."

#15

Image source: Notey22, wikimedia.commons "I've got the middle toes on both feet webbed. So did Stalin."

#16

Image source: tysonedwards, MART PRODUCTION "I was kidnapped when leaving work and held for 18 months, along with two other girls. The guy who took us claimed himself to be an ineffable lower god, and used cult tactics, manipulation and control to have us be his family. I was allowed to leave to the grocery store as an errand, but knew if I didn’t come back the others would receive my punishment. I finally got away by stabbing my captor when I believed he was going to kill me."

#17

Image source: anon, Natanael Melchor "I am a 19 year old male. In August of last year, I was driving with my sister, when suddenly her face turned cold. “Gavin your eyes are yellow”, I remember her saying. I quickly pulled down the passengers mirror, and to my horror, two yellow eyes radiated back at me. Fast forward, I spent a month being sick, the initial diagnosis was Hepatitis A. Went back to the doctor, nothing was better(things were worse in fact). Was sent to the ER, then to the liver transplant unit at UCSF. By this point my eyes had turned muddy orange, and my pee was the color of... a mahogany tree. Anyways, the team of liver doctors at UCSF managed to save my liver. I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. Oh, and my eyes are white again :)"

#18

Image source: sunglasses619, Joey Nicotra "I have the rarest type of synesthesia, lexical-gustatory. It means I taste words."

#19

Image source: Grkitaliaemt, wikimedia.commons "I was on Tinder and was talking to this guy. He was supposed to meet me for dinner ,I texted him and no answer . Then I texted him on Tinder. Said that he couldn’t make it . However, I got a text back from the number . It wasn’t the guy that I thought I texted. It was the actor Gerard Butler. I thought he was lying until he FaceTimed me. Nice guy. I didn’t go on a date with him instead. He lives on the west coast and I live on the east coast. I didn’t keep his number because I respect his privacy. When he FaceTimed me he was super casual and asked me why I was using Tinder and he wished me luck on it."

#20

Image source: Mannaminne, Emiliano Vittoriosi "I'm allergic to potatoes. Never met someone else who is so I guess it's one in a million. Never eaten chips or fries."