Mike Petkovic, a former BBC camera operator, beat the odds and survived disaster after disaster, giving him the title “Unluckiest Man in Britain.”
The 38-year-old man from Wales had a few difficult years in his life. He was trampled by a horse named Max, which left him with a severely damaged spine.
Max recounted the experience, and said that if the horse put his full weight on his body, he would have died.
“I got knocked over forwards so I was facing down. He (Max) stepped on the bottom part of my back and my shoulder, realized what he was doing and shifted his weight. If he’d have put his full weight on me I would be dead.”
While recovering and wearing crutches, his flat caught fire and he heroically tried to rescue his cats from the flames.
“I got back from work and put the oven on and the next thing I knew I was surrounded by flames.”
Petkovic frantically searched for his cats as the fire was spreading. When he came out of his bedroom, there was a wall of flame blocking his only way out. He went through the flame and was set on fire. As a result, he suffered major burns and “died” three times while being airlifted to the hospital, Wales Online reported.
The rescue brigade was able to save one of his three cats.
It doesn’t stop there. Pekovic relocated to the town of Aberystwyth, and big storms damaged his flat so severely that he had to move to a different home three times.
Because of the damage the fire had done to his skin, Petkovic felt embarrassed to leave his home. However, he found out about Radio Bronglais, a radio station at the Bronglais General Hospital, and got a job there. Petkovic is now in a wheelchair and is raising funds to get an electric wheelchair so that he could go out and do things without having to rely on his partner, Mark Mackinlay.
Despite all the difficulties he had to go through, Mike Petkovic still has a positive outlook, and says that he aims to help other people to get back their confidence through his work on radio.
Pektovic still has a pending operation, and when he has fully recovered, he plans to donate his wheelchair to someone in need. He also want to make extra money and give a donation to the Welsh Air Ambulance.
[Image via Keith Morris/Wales Online]
