Heroes against the odds

What would you have done? 12 incredible stories of survival

Image: Kalle Kortelainen

Slot canyons, the icy Andes, Australia’s desert, and the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean: These are all spots where people have been stranded and survived to tell the story. From following water streams to fending off sharks, these heroes have taught us not only how to survive in the wilderness but also how to believe in one’s own strength and not lose hope. Read on to discover amazing tales of real survivors!

Image: Alex Moliski

You might not know his name, but surely you’ve heard his story. In 2003, Aron Ralston set out to explore the slot canyons of Bluejohn Canyon in Utah. Disaster struck when a boulder dislodged, pinning his right arm against the canyon wall.

Aaron was trapped for six agonizing days and eventually made the unthinkable decision to amputate his arm using a multitool. After freeing himself, he rappelled and hiked miles to find rescuers. The movie 127 Hours (2010) retold his story.

Image: David Riaño Cortés

When she was 17 years old, Juliane Koepcke boarded a plane with her mom to fly over the Peruvian Amazon. This was on Christmas Eve, 1971. Tragically, the plane was struck by lightning and fell. Jane survived the two-mile drop strapped to her seat.

The dense jungle canopy caught her. The daughter of German zoologists, Juliane was aided by her knowledge of the forest to navigate for 11 days, finding water and disinfecting her wounds. She finally found a logging camp where she was rescued.

Image: Luis Aceves

In 1915, during the Mexican Revolution, Wenseslao Moguel was captured by government forces and sentenced to death. He was shot nine times.

Against all odds, Wenseslao survived by playing dead and crawling to safety once the soldiers left. Nicknamed El Fusilado ("The Shot One"), he later lived a long, full life and became a folk legend to symbolize Mexico’s fighting spirit.

Image: Maico Pereira

A rugby team’s flight crashed into the Andes Mountains in 1972. The 16 out of 45 survivors were stranded at an altitude of 12,000 feet, far from civilization, in the icy expanse between Chile and Argentina, for 72 days.

With no rescue in sight, two of the survivors, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, trekked for 10 days through the treacherous mountains to find help, eventually alerting authorities and saving the others. Their story was retold in several books and films.

Image: Jacob Buller

In November 1942, Chinese sailor Poon Lim was aboard a British merchant ship when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat in the Atlantic Ocean. He found a wooden raft among the wreckage in which he would be set adrift for 133 days.

He rationed supplies and crafted tools to catch fish and collect rainwater. He used the natural currents to fend off sharks. Eventually, Brazilian fishermen spotted and rescued him near their coast. Forever known as the "Castaway King," Poon holds the record for the longest time surviving alone at sea. He said he never once doubted he’d live.

Image: Yannis Papanastasopoulos

In 2013, Harrison Okene, a Nigerian cook, was aboard a tugboat that capsized off the coast of his country. The ship sank 100 feet to the seabed, and he was trapped in a tiny air pocket inside a bathroom. For 60 hours, he survived in pitch darkness, waist-deep in freezing water.

He rationed sips of Coca-Cola and used his faith to stay calm. Miraculously, divers searching for bodies discovered him alive. Harrison’s survival was nicknamed the "miracle in the Atlantic" because an hours-long survival at such depths was unheard of.

Image: Yuriy Rzhemovskiy

In May 1996, Beck Weathers survived one of the deadliest blizzards in Mount Everest's history. This storm claimed eight lives in a single night. Beck, who was partially blinded after complications of a recent eye surgery, was abandoned by his climbing group after being presumed frozen dead.

Miraculously, he awoke and, despite his blindness, managed to stagger toward the camp. He lost parts of his body to frostbite but lived to tell an amazing story of resilience and to see his ordeal and that of his team inspired several movies.

Image: Florian Eckerle

Amanda Eller was a physical therapist and yoga instructor who went for a solo hike in Maui's Makawao Forest Reserve during the spring of 2019. This is a beautiful, lush, but very disorienting jungle.

Amanda veered off the trail and became lost for 17 days in the dense wilderness. She kept her strength by drinking river water, eating wild plants, and meditating. Aided by social media and crowdfunding projects, rescuers found her sunburned, shoeless, and 15 pounds lighter —but alive.

Image: I Love Pixel

33 miners were trapped 2,300 feet underground for 69 days. This happened in 2010 in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, after a mine collapse left them in a small refuge with limited supplies. Their camaraderie and rationing skills kept them alive.

Once they were located, NASA engineers and the Chilean government collaborated to design a special capsule called the Phoenix to rescue them one by one. The miners emerged to a hero's welcome, and their story became known worldwide.

Image: Malachi Brooks

When they were in their 20s, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to conquer Siula Grande, a peak in the Peruvian Andes. Fate struck when Joe broke his leg in a fall. Simon attempted to lower Joe down the mountain, facing brutal weather and dwindling supplies. But a misstep sent Joe plummeting down.

Assuming his friend had perished, Simon descended alone. Against all odds, however, Joe had survived the fall. He crawled back to base camp over three days, enduring frostbite, dehydration, and hallucinations before he was rescued.

Image: Michael Hamments

Anna Bågenholm was skiing near Narvik, Norway, when she fell into an icy stream. She was trapped beneath the frozen surface for 80 minutes. Her body temperature plummeted to 56.7°F, the lowest ever recorded for a surviving human.

Anna was clinically dead when rescuers pulled her out. Doctors performed groundbreaking procedures to gradually rewarm her body, and she recovered with only minor nerve damage. Her story revolutionized the understanding of hypothermia and cold-weather survival.

Image: Henrique Felix

Sometimes, it’s not nature that’s to blame. In 2006, Ricky Megee was driving through the desolate Australian Outback when he was attacked. The men left him for dead, lost in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

He survived for 71 days on a diet of insects, frogs, and vegetation while sheltering in a makeshift dam. Rescuers finally found him emaciated and sunburned but alive. Interestingly, he claims he doesn’t hold a grudge against his attackers.

Be articulate!

The right word is the best word: 12 precise words for specific things

English is full of surprisingly precise words for feelings, situations, and experiences that most people struggle to describe. Some come from ancient Greek or Latin, while others were borrowed from languages like Welsh or Swedish. A few are still rare today, but all of them manage to describe very specific things. Take a look at the following 12 examples and see if there are one or two that you can add to your daily vocabulary!

A paraprosdokian is a sentence that suddenly changes meaning at the very end, forcing you to rethink what came before. The word comes from Greek roots meaning "against expectation."

Unsurprisingly, comedians and writers love using paraprosdokians for humor and surprise (pun intended). A famous example is: "I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn’t it." The unexpected ending is what makes it work.

"Nibling" is a gender-neutral word that refers to a niece or nephew. It is widely credited to linguist Samuel E. Martin in 1951 as a parallel to the word "sibling."

For decades, the term remained obscure, but it became more popular online in the 2010s as many English speakers sought more inclusive family language.

Kakorrhaphiophobia means an irrational fear of failure. The intimidating word comes from Greek roots connected to fear and failure, making it one of English’s longest phobia names.

Although rarely used in everyday life, psychologists connect the idea to perfectionism, anxiety, and fear of disappointing others. The word often appears in lists of unusual English vocabulary.

Formication is the sensation that insects are crawling on or under your skin when nothing is actually there. The term comes from the Latin word formica, meaning "ant."

Doctors recognize it as a real neurological symptom linked to anxiety, sleep deprivation, menopause, certain illnesses, and drug withdrawal. Despite the strange name, it has been documented for decades.

Dysania describes the extreme difficulty of getting out of bed in the morning. While many people jokingly relate to it, the term is often associated with fatigue, depression, or sleep disorders.

Unlike ordinary laziness, dysania refers to a persistent struggle to leave the bed even after waking up. The word became popular online thanks to lists of oddly specific modern vocabulary (not unlike this one).

The interrobang combines a question mark and an exclamation point into one punctuation mark. It was invented in 1962 by advertising executive Martin K. Speckter.

He believed advertisements needed a cleaner way to show excited questions like "You paid how much???!!!" Although it never became standard punctuation, the symbol still exists in Unicode and modern fonts.

"Latibulate" means to hide away from society or retreat into a safe corner. It comes from the Latin latibulum, meaning "hiding place."

The word is extremely rare today, which only adds to its mysterious appeal. It is often included in collections of forgotten English words.

Hiraeth is a Welsh word describing deep longing for a home, place, or time that may never truly return. It goes beyond ordinary nostalgia or homesickness.

Many writers describe hiraeth as mourning something lost, imagined, or impossible to recover fully. Among them, J.L. Borges said, "One does not miss places, but the moments spent in them."

Tmesis happens when a word or phrase is split apart, and another word is inserted in the middle. English examples include "abso-bloody-lutely" and "fan-freaking-tastic."

The term comes from a Greek word meaning "cutting." Ancient Greek and Latin poets used tmesis long before modern English speakers turned it into a playful part of casual conversation.

Apricity means the warmth of the sun during winter. The word entered English in the 1600s and comes from the Latin apricus, meaning "warmed by the sun."

Although it disappeared from common speech for centuries, apricity can sometimes be found in specific texts, since few terms describe such a precise seasonal feeling so well.

Clinomania refers to an overwhelming desire to stay in bed. The name combines Greek roots linked to beds and obsession, giving it a more intense meaning than simple tiredness.

The word is sometimes confused with dysania, but clinomania suggests a stronger emotional urge to remain under the covers.

Lagom is a Swedish word meaning "just the right amount," not too much nor too little. It reflects a broader Scandinavian philosophy centered on balance and moderation.

The term became internationally popular during the 2010s alongside Nordic lifestyle trends like hygge.