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Man struck by lightning while pumping gas

VILLAGE OF BARKER, N.Y., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A Village of Barker, N.Y., man said he survived being struck by lightning, with only minimal injuries, while pumping gas into his car.

William Hall said he was pumping gas at the K&K Food Mart when he was struck by lightning and knocked unconscious, WIVB-TV, Buffalo, N.Y, reported Monday.

"Started pumping the gas, and I seen a very bright orange light, followed by a very bright white light, and then total darkness. I went out," Hall said. "I was very numb, shaky. Hard to catch my breath. My heart was beating really rapid."

Hall said he was unconscious for about five minutes but he awoke to find himself uninjured, except for muscle soreness and some small blisters on his elbow.

The incident was caught on film by K&K security cameras.

"Everybody tells me I'm lucky, and I feel that way. I really do," Hall said.

British cabbie well paid for long drive

PORTSMOUTH, England, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A British cab driver says a man desperate to reach a friend's stag party paid nearly $4,000 to be driven from Portsmouth, England, to Munich, Germany.

Cabbie Mick Hogan, 54, said a man named Dave, in his 30s, had missed his flight and had no other option than to be driven the 740 miles, The Mirror reported.

"I thought he was having a laugh or it was one of my cabbie mates doing a wind-up -- but he was serious," Hogan said. "It felt surreal, but it was better and more profitable than being sat on the rank all day."

Hogan said it took him 17 hours to drive through England, France, Belgium and Luxembourg before dropping David in the center of Munich, the Mirror reported.

Honeymooners recycled for air miles

PETERSFIELD, England, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A Petersfield, England, couple said they spent three months scrounging for recycling to gather free air miles for their honeymoon trip to the United States.

John and Ann Till said they collected more than 60,000 pieces of recycling during their springtime scavenging to earn 36,000 British Airways miles by turning the cans and bottles in at Tesco grocery stores, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"We would nip out to the pub and take a long route coming back," John Till said. "We soon found out where the best places were to pick up rubbish. It was mainly things like cans, Coke bottles and cans of lager."

"At the very beginning we thought it was going to be impossible to do, but as we were getting more and more points and working it out in our heads as we went along we realized it was going to be possible," he said.

The couple used the points to fly business class home from the United States after taking the Queen Mary 2 to New York on a honeymoon that included visits to Denver and Nashville.

Man named Fox attacked by fox, crashes car

DOVER, Tenn., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A Tennessee man named Tommy Fox crashed his car while contending with an attack from a real fox whose tail he intended to cut off, authorities say.

After the Dover man struck a red fox that had dashed in front of his sport utility vehicle last week, he said he thought the animal was dead so he retrieved it from the roadway, planning to cut off its tail for a souvenir, a state wildlife official told Gannett Tennessee.

Fox said the animal regained consciousness in the back seat of his SUV and attacked him, causing him to lose control of the vehicle and flip it over into a ditch.

Records indicated Fox was treated for minor injuries at the scene by Montgomery County, Tenn., paramedics. The fox was found dead in the vehicle, but Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wildlife officer Dale Grandstaff said it wasn't clear if it had died from the initial collision or from the rollover.

Gannett Tennessee said it was not known if Fox got to keep the fox tail.