Survival instinct is one of the most amazing qualities of a human brain. There are thousands of instances where humans have defeated all odds and survived the worst of the conditions. Some of them are so intense that they seem almost unbelievable to a normal person.
Let’s have a look at some of the most amazing survival stories of people stuck in some of the most extreme conditions.
1. Aron Ralston- Real guy behind the inspiration of the movie “127 hours”
Aron Ralston is a canyoneer & engineer who survived a canyoneering accident by amputating his own arm. His survival story is the inspiration behind James Franco starrer “127 hours”. Here’s what happened:
- The accident occurred on 26th April 2003. Aron was hiking through Blue John Canyon in Eastern Utah. While descending a slot canyon, a suspended boulder crushed his right arm against the canyon wall. Since he had not informed anyone of his trekking plans, there was no hope of a backup.
- He was stuck there for 5 days & 7 hours during which he exhausted all his food and water available with him.
- After all his efforts to free his arm proved futile, he decided to amputate his arm. But the problem was that he didn’t have the proper tools to cut through the bones in the arm.
- After he ran out of food and water on the 5th day, he had to drink his own urine to survive. He had lost all hopes of survival and even videotaped his final goodbyes to his family.
- But after waking up on the 6th day, he decided to give a final try and broke his arm bones to facilitate amputation, then used a dull knife to cut through the hand. After freeing himself, he rappelled down and went hiking through the canyon where he found a family who rushed him to the authorities.
- He lost 18 kg and 25% of his blood volume during the whole ordeal.
2. Alive, the story of Uruguayan rugby team stuck in the Andes
The plane carrying the Uruguayan rugby team crashed in the Andes, killing 29 of the 45 passengers on board. Compadres Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa not only survived the crash but also made an epic trek across the mountains to raise the alarm. The story of their fight for survival, resorting to cannibalism, became the 1974 bestseller which was also made into a feature film.
3. Sailor Deborah Scaling Kiley
Deborah Scaling Kiley was a sailor who was caught in a thunderstorm during one of her routine visits from Maine to Florida.
They were caught in an unexpected heavy weather in the Gulf Stream off the coast of North Carolina. Her ship sank. All but five crew members drowned. The remaining 5 members gathered on an 11-foot piece of debris and began to die: two drank sea-water, became delusional, left the sea wreck and were eaten by sharks; and the third had an agonizing death from infected wounds suffered during the sinking.
Five days after the sinking, Kiley, and the other surviving crew member were rescued by a passing Soviet cargo ship and presented to US authorities.
4. Marathon runner who got lost in the Sahara
- Mauro Prosperi, an endurance runner, took part in the 1994 Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands) in Morocco. Part way through the 6-day 233-kilometre event, a sandstorm caused Mauro Prosperi and his cousin James Duchkin to lose the way. He ended up disoriented and ran in the wrong direction, ultimately running several hundred kilometres into Algeria.
- After 36 hours, he ran out of food and water. He took shelter at an abandoned Muslim shrine and survived by drinking his own urine. He had to eat bats which he found on the ceilings as he waited for rescue.
- Prosperi attempted to commit suicide in the shrine by slitting his wrists with a pen knife he had with him, but the attempt failed as the lack of water had thickened his blood and it clotted the wound. After regaining composure he decided to follow early morning clouds, he had to eat reptiles, insects, and dry cacti before stumbling on to an oasis. After nine days alone in the desert, he was found & taken to an Algerian military camp and from there to a hospital. He was 186 miles (299 km) off route and had lost 18 kg in body weight.
5. Julian Koepcke, only survivor among 92 passengers and crew of a LANSA flight crash
She was a senior in high school, going to meet her father along with her mother when her flight crashed after being struck by lightning. After the crash, her first priority was finding her mother. While looking for her mother and other passengers, she came across a small stream. She waded through knee-high water downstream from her landing site, relying on the survival principles taught by her father, that tracking downstream should eventually lead to civilization. During the trip, Koepcke spent sleepless nights due to insect bites, which had become infected. After nine days, several spent floating downstream, she found a boat moored near a shelter, where she found the boat’s motor and fuel tank. Relying again on her father’s advice, Koepcke poured gasoline on her wounds, and removed thirty-five maggots from one arm. She took refuge in the shelter and stayed there till she was found by the rescuers.
6. Greg Rasmussen, the man who survived a plane crash & jungle full of lions with broken bones
In 2003, Greg Rasmussen, a British wildlife conservation biologist who had been studying African wild dogs was in a light plane crash in the African savannah. With his legs broken in six different places, he made it alive past lions and dangerous predators, eventually losing his leg mobility. In fact, today he is three inches shorter than before the incident.
The human body is capable of unthinkable feats when it comes to its survival, isn’t it!