By Erin Schmitt, Messenger Staff Writer eschmitt@the-messenger.com
Published: Thursday, June 4, 2009 12:25 AM CDT
Jeff Ewing is either the luckiest man alive or the unluckiest.

The UPS delivery driver was likely struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon while stepping out of his company truck in the Brentwood subdivision.

Nearly four years ago, he had to hang onto a company truck for dear life as a F-4 tornado ripped through the south end of Madisonville.

After surviving his second weather-related scare, Ewing was taken to Regional Medical Center where he was being evaluated in the emergency room Wednesday evening, said a hospital spokesman, who would not confirm the extent of Ewing's injuries.

It's unclear whether Ewing was actually struck by lightning or if the bolt had just touched down in close proximity to him, according to Madisonville Fire Department Maj. Todd Howard. The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Scott Drive and Bernard Drive.

Fire Department EMT's administered oxygen to Ewing and got him stabilized before an ambulance took him to RMC.

In November 2005, Ewing was making deliveries when he got caught up in the worst tornado in Hopkins County history.

According to a column Ewing wrote for The Messenger following the tornado, he recalled the storm approaching but didn't know a tornado had already cut a path through West Highland Park in Earlington. Instead, he was focused on finishing his last few stops though the twister's path was heading straight for him.

As Ewing drove to the end of Wesco Drive where it meets South Main Street, he said he noticed something was not right.

"Looking back, it wasn't a regular-looking tornado like one might see on TV," he recalled. "All I saw was debris or something flying in a wild rotation coming at me."

With the strongest tornado recorded in the U.S. in 2005 bearing down on him, Ewing realized he had only two options. He could drive into it head on or turn left on Buckner Ridge Lane and "wish for the best." He chose the second option.

He turned left, putting him in front of former University of Kentucky and Boston Celtic player Frank Ramsey's house. As soon as Ewing turned, he was pelted by unknown objects.

After unbuckling his seat belt, the UPS employee struggled to get the driver's side door open in the high pressure winds. Once he'd opened the door, he jumped out of the truck and searched for something, anything, to hold on to.

"I grabbed the bottom side of my UPS truck, thinking I had a pretty good grip," he wrote. "But it picked the truck up and tossed it into Frank Ramsey's front yard while I went flying down Buckner Ridge Lane in the direction of South Main."

A million thoughts raced through his mind as he was in the air for what seemed like a very long time but was likely only a few seconds. He wrote that he believed then that God must have other plans for him.

"I don't know to this day how I managed," he wrote, "but I told myself to hold on."

Ewing somehow managed to wrap his arms around a guard rail on Buckner Ridge in spite of the debris swirling around him. From this vantage point, Ewing watched Ramsey's house "implode."

Once the wind died down, Ewing ran to check on Ramsey, thinking he might find him in the rubble. Ewing called out for Ramsey and the famed basketball player responded from the only part of his home that remained standing.

After a period of recuperation, Ewing was back on the job, guiding the large brown delivery van through the streets of Madisonville.

Life returned to normal in good weather and bad.

On Wednesday afternoon, another unexpected force of nature struck dangerously close to Ewing.

Again, he lived to tell about it.