06.16.09 DIGITAL TV SAVED A MAN’S LIFE

Thunderstorms and high winds ravaged Memphis on Friday, downing trees and power lines and leaving thousands  without electricty.  One man, 86 year-old WWII veteran Robert Monsarrat, lost part of his house and would have lost his life had the switch from analog television to digital not occurred that day.

On Saturday, he said that if it weren’t for the switch from analog to digital television, he might be dead. Monsarrat hasn’t received his digital converter box yet, so instead of watching “The Oprah Winfrey Show” from his bedroom like usual, he went into the kitchen to use his only digital television.

Soon after, lightning struck a large red oak in his backyard, causing it to come crashing down on his house at Hawthorne and Peach near Overton Park… The tree destroyed the back of the house, including his bedroom.  “I was curled up in the fetal position under the rubble when they dug me out,” he said.

I wish I could get odds from Vegas on whether Oprah takes credit for this, because I would richer than royalty by the end of the month.  As for Monsarrat, well, we now know that the Final Destination movies are real.  He’ll be dead in a week when he succumbs to Death’s wiles in a horrible accident… involving old age and natural causes!

(photos by Brad Luttrell/The Commercial Appeal)