Is the number 13 really an unlucky number?
Did a person survive 2 fatal incidents in a 24-hour period?
Did 2 brothers succumb to very coincidental fates just 1 year apart?
Are these stories of death and survival true, or are they designed to rule your imagination?
Let's find out on tonight's episode of fact.. or fiction.
The line that divides the factual from the unreal has long since blurred, the tales we
once thought fantastical now implanted as truth.
To decipher verity from the imagined, you must break from the ordinary and consider
a universe where the outlandish prevails.
Can you expand your mind to see beyond our perceived reality?
Can you decide what's fact or fiction?
The superstition that 13 is an unlucky number is as old as time, but there still seems to
be any correlation between the number and bad luck.
That is until 2013, when a young Canadian man underestimated just how unlucky it can
be..
Story # 1: Unlucky for Some Harry Wilson was 22 when he attended an annual
air show at the Canadian National Exhibition.
He’d loved planes since he was a little boy, and the 2013 show was the fifth year
in a row that he and his dad had attended.
The day, the 13th of September, started as always, and although the weather was calm,
there seemed to be a storm brewing on the horizon.
Harry and his dad weren’t going to let the threat of rain stand in their way though,
so they set up their chairs in prime position ready for the show to begin at 1 pm.
Just before the planes took flight the weather finally broke and the rain started, followed
by thunder and lightning in the distance.
Harry and his dad put on their raincoats and stayed out in the rain to watch the show with
1,300 other hardy souls who’d also decided to endure the weather.
Thirteen minutes into the show, at 13:13 there was a huge crack in the air that made the
ground shake underneath the crowd’s feet, and a flash of lightning that temporarily
blinded everyone with its brightness.
At first, Harry’s dad didn’t realize that anything was wrong, but when he looked over
to his son he saw him lying on the ground.
Harry was lifeless on the wet grass, and his body bore the telltale burns of a lightning
strike.
He wasn’t breathing and his dad screamed for help.
Luckily, a nurse was in the crowd and he ran over to administer CPR while the now silent
crowd stood in the rain waiting desperately for the Emergency Services to arrive.
Harry was unconscious the entire trip to the hospital, but doctors managed to bring him
back from the brink of death.
Harry still loves airplanes, but he’s wary of the number 13 now.
Have you ever experienced bad luck around the number 13, or on Friday the 13th?
What are the odds that lightning struck exactly at 13:13 into the show?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to vote by using the on-screen
poll as we get ready for our 2nd story for tonight.
You may remember the tale of a woman who survived a free fall from an airplane in a previous
episode, but what about a free-fall in an elevator at 75 stories up?
Well, Sandra Peters did just that..
Story # 2: 75 Story Free Fall In 1945, the Empire State Building was the
tallest structure on Earth and the world marveled at the incredible feat of engineering that
went into creating the mega-structure.
But, in July of that year, a plane crashed into the building, killing 12 people and leaving
hundreds more fighting for their lives.
One of the survivors was Sandra Louise Peters, a 43-year-old lift operator.
She was on duty at the time of the accident and was standing in the open lift on the 75th
floor waiting for passengers.
The impact threw her violently from the lift and the resulting fire gave her some severe
burns.
Firefighters were quickly on the scene, and when they found badly injured Sandra, they
knew they needed to get her to the hospital quickly if she had any chance of surviving.
In their haste to descend down to the ground floor, they decided to take the elevator,
but almost immediately they realized their mistake.
Once they’d closed the door and selected their floor the fire-damaged cables creaked
and groaned under the strain of its passengers.
A few torturous moments passed as the firemen looked at each other with fear in their eyes,
before the cables gave way and sent the elevator into a 75 story free fall.
The fire crew died, but somehow Sandra survived the fall and went on to recover from her injuries
in a hospital.
Five months later the building was repaired and open for business, and Sandra went back
to her post in the very elevator that almost claimed her life.
Could Sandra really have survived being hit by a plane and a 75 story fall?
And would she then go back to work in the place that almost claimed her life?
Surely no human is resilient enough to deal with such physical and mental trauma?
As you share your thoughts, let's get to our third and final story for tonight.
Could two brothers succumb to similar fates 1 year apart on the same day?
Unfortunately for the Debbor brothers, this is exactly what happened.
Story # 3: Two Brothers, One Fate In Malé, the capital of the Maldives, nothing
very exciting really happens.
It’s a fairly sleepy city and life in town is slow paced and very relaxed.
So when Lawrence Debbor was knocked off his moped and killed by a taxi driver in June
of 1984, it was big news.
The 17-year old’s family mourned, and the neighborhood cried alongside them.
The collision was an innocent accident and the taxi driver’s passengers vouched for
it being a terrible case of bad luck, so he wasn’t charged for the death of the young
man.
Six months later, Lawrence’s younger brother Cyril turned 17 and got a moped for his birthday.
In June of 1985 he went out to run some errands for his mother and took his usual route from
their family home, which took him down the street that his older brother had died on.
He was being extra careful when he rounded the corner to pass the spot where the accident
happened, but on this particular day, he wasn’t careful enough.
A car came round the corner at the same time as Cyril and there was a head-on collision
which killed him instantly.
Being killed in the same spot as his brother was a terrible coincidence, but what makes
it even spookier is that the car was the same taxi that had killed Lawrence.
Not only was the driver the same man, but even the passengers were the same.
Two brothers being killed on their mopeds is a coincidence in itself, so is it really
possible that they’d be the same age and the accident happen in the same spot with
the same people involved?
Maybe this tale seems a little farfetched?
We really want to know what you think on this one, so be sure to let us know in the comment
section as we get ready for the moment we've all been waiting for - the reveal.
Are you ready to find out if you can decipher between fact or fiction?
Let’s look back at tonight's three stories and find out which were born from reality
and which were fabrications of the imagination.
First we’re heading north to Toronto and our electrifying tale of Harry Wilson’s
unlucky run-in with the number 13.
Did he really get struck by lightning at exactly 13:13 into the show?
No, no he didn’t.
This tale is a complete work of fiction and penned by our own writers.
Next, we’re going back to NYC and the story of the Empire State Building plane crash.
Could one woman survive certain death twice in one day?
Actually, yes.
Betty Lou Oliver survived this exact accident in 1945 and did, in fact, go back to work
after only five months later.
Finally, we’re heading back to the Maldives and to the tragic story of the Debbor brothers
who died one year apart in the exact same circumstances.
Could such a terrible coincidence actually be true?
Sadly, yes, this cruel twist of fate befell Erskine and Neville Ebbin on the island of
Bermuda.
How well did you do in tonight's video?
Did you look past the deception of our world and define the oft-blurred line that struggles
to separate lies from the truth?
Let us all know in the comment section below and should you find the urge to test your
perceptions again, be sure to subscribe and join us next time when we ask you to decide
what's fact... or fiction.