The Lukiest man on Earth, Alec Alder survived four car crashes, three wartime bombings and even a plane crashing into his room.
LONDON: Alec Alder has survived car crashes, war-time bombing and has even walked away after a fighter jet smashed into the side of his house as he slept. Other escapes include a 15ft fall from a tree in 1926 and a close shave when he avoided being sent to Dunkirk in 1939 — where his whole squadron were killed. Now, the grandfather of six from Stroud says he must be the “luckiest fella alive” and is amazed he has made it to 90. The first of his near-death experie n c e s came as a 10-year-old, when he was hit by a car as he cycled down a narrow lane. Alder said, “I went around the corner and there was a car in front of me. I went straight into the car, up into the air and landed spread-eagle on the bonnet.” The driver turned out to be a doctor who was able to treat him at the scene and save his life.
Later, he managed to avoid getting wiped out in Dukirk during World Ward II. In 1942, he was taking part in military training exercises in Yorkshire, when he was run over by a tank. “It had gone over my foot when the engine stopped. If he had gone further, he would have killed me.”
Later that year, he survived a plane crash into his room. “It only missed my head by inches. The roof collapsed around me and the plane burst into flames and crashed into the garden,” he said.
Towards the end of the war, Alder was sent to Burma where he broke his leg playing football. He was sent to a hospital in India where a ward matron converted him to Christianity. He said, “She said, ‘You’re giving only five per cent of your time to God, but He wants a hundred per cent.’
ALEC’S 14 NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES
1926 Fell 15ft from a tree
1929 Collided head-on with a car and landed on the bonnet.
1939 Narrowly avoided death in Dunkirk as his company was changed due to his wedding
1940 Bombed as he guarded an airfield in Kent
1940 Bombed again
1942 A runaway tank’s engine stalled seconds before crushing him to death
1942 Almost hit by a plane that crashed into his room
1943 Avoided being destroyed after the engine on his ship cut out amidst German U-boats
1944 Threatened with being shot by a soldier in Burma
1944 Avoided being killed by the enemy in Burma after a fracture landed him in hospital
1945 Nearly sunk by a ferocious storm off Gibraltar
1947 Avoided being crushed in his car by a lorry
1977 Survived a head-on road collision because the other clipped the kerb.
1997 Nearly hit by doors that swung open on the lorry in front of him while driving
