The Five most amazing survival stories of people who went to incredible lengths to survive against all odds. These survival stories will give a glimpse of human determination and our instinct to survive.
Wenseslao Moguel
The Mexican Revolution saw many deaths – but no one saw it as closely as Wenseslao Moguel. Wenseslao Moguel was captured on 18 March, 1915 and without a trial was sentenced to execution by firing squad. He was shot not once, not twice, not even thrice but 9 times including the final bullet through his head by an Officer to insure death. Miraculously, Wenseslao survived and was able to escape. Wenseslao Moguel's survival is one of the most amazing survival stories of all times. He went on to live a full life after his execution.
Aron Ralston
Aron Ralston is an engineer and passionate mountaineer. March 2003, Ralston was hiking in Blue John Canyon, Utah, unknown of the fact that his favorite hiking site will become the setting for his amazing survival story. While descending a slot canyon, a suspended boulder from which he was climbing down became dislodged, crushing his right hand and forearm and pinning it against the canyon wall. After spending five days trying to free his arm from the 800 lb load and surviving on just 350ml of water, he took the difficult decision of amputating his arm. Using a dull two-inch knife, the operation took about an hour. He then hiked out of the canyon.
His book "Between a rock and a hard place" inspired the 2010 movie "127 Hours".
Steven Callahan
On the night of January 29, 1982, Steven Callahan set sail alone in his small sailboat from the Canary Islands bound for the Caribbean. On February 5, the ship sank in a storm, leaving Callahan adrift in the Atlantic in a 5.5ft inflatable rubber raft. Naked except for a t-shirt, with only three pounds of food, a few pieces of gear and eight pints of water to survive, Callahan drifted for 76 days, and over 1,800 miles of ocean, before he reached land and was rescued in the Bahamas. He recorded his amazing survival story in his book "Adrift: 76 days lost at sea".
Uruguay Air Force Flight 57
On October 13 1972, the Old Christians Rugby Team were flying in a chartered plane to play a match in Santiago, Chile. For many of them, this proved to be their last flight, but not for all of them.
The plane carrying 45 passengers including the associates and family members of the rugby team crashed in the Andes. The crash killed a quarter of the passengers and the rest left in extremely harsh conditions more than 3500 meters above sea level. With freezing temperatures and almost no food, the survivors fed on the bodies of their dead companions for nearly 72 days when Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa made an epic trek across the mountains to raise the alarm. A rescue mission at last rescued the other 16 passengers.
The amazing survival story of the Uruguay Air Force Flight inspired the 1974 best seller, "Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivor" by Piers Paul Read.
Ernest Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton, an Antarctic explorer, left his home to become the first human to cross the Antarctic from sea to sea, passing from the south pole. His expedition, however failed, but he and his hardy crew still won the honor and respect of the whole humanity.
Disaster struck Ernest's expedition when their ship 'Endurance' was crushed in pack ice and the crew was forced to continue on foot. For over two years, Shackleton led the crew across ice floes, then in lifeboats to a camp on Elephant Island where for six months the main group would survive on seal meat and blubber. On 24 April 1916, Shackleton with five crewmen set sail in a small 6.1 meter sail boat, named James Caird, to reach a whaling station at South Georgia. But after fifteen days at sea, a hurricane forced them to land on the southern shore of South Georgia. He then hiked with two others for 36 hours, across the mountainous terrain to reach a whaling station. The crew members were rescued after another 3 months.
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