Is this Britain's unluckiest man?

"If you ever think life is being a little tough on you, just be grateful you aren't John Lyne – who could well be Britain's unluckiest man.



'Calamity John' has suffered 16 major accidents in his life, including lightning strikes, a rock-fall in a mine and three car crashes.

He is presently laid up again after falling down a manhole at work.

The 54-year-old industrial cleaner will be out of action for 32 weeks and is not sure he can return to his job.

The accident damaged his back and injured his left leg and both knees – which the grandfather-of-three can add to a lifetime of broken bones.

But none of this has left Mr Lyne bitter – he is just glad to be alive. 'Everyone thinks it is just hilarious,' he said. 'My mates, family and wife Susan just laugh about it.

'I don't think there is any reason or explanation. Things could have been much worse and I could have died but it doesn't worry me too much.'

Mr Lyne's mishaps cover a lifetime and he has even been known to suffer two accidents at once. As a child, he fell off a horse and cart – only to be run over by a delivery van.

When he was a teenager, he broke his arm falling from a tree.

On his way back from hospital, his bus crashed, breaking the same arm in another place. The date, of course, was Friday the 13th.

A philosophical Mr Lyne, of Stainworth, South Yorkshire, said: 'I have had a lot of lucky escapes and people have compared me with a cat with nine lives. It doesn't get me down. It is just how it is.'"