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.

Decoding the experts

You’ve heard your doctor use these words. Here’s what they really mean

Medical jargon can be somewhat confusing to the untrained ear. How can something negative or unremarkable be reassuring? If you’ve ever felt like you needed a translator during a medical appointment, you’re not alone. Curious about what your physician is really saying? Let’s break it down.

During a routine visit, your doctor might talk about keeping your arteries healthy. And later, when you get your blood draw, the technician mentions your veins. It’s easy to wonder how these two are related.

Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the body. They handle higher pressure and have thicker walls. They are in charge of delivering blood to every other organ.

Veins, instead, return blood to the heart after oxygen has been delivered. They work under lower pressure than the arteries. Conditions affecting them vary greatly, and knowing the difference allows any patient to understand what is really going on behind that lab result.

Heart testing can involve several procedures, and the names don’t always make it clear what each one does. An electrocardiogram, or EKG, records the electrical activity of the heart. It helps detect irregular rhythms and signs of past damage. For instance, if someone feels palpitations, an EKG might be the first test ordered.

An echocardiogram uses ultrasound to create images of the heart’s structure and movement. It’s helpful to see blood flow through the heart and heart valves. Both tests look at the heart, but they focus on different aspects.

When it comes to thyroid conditions, a small prefix makes a big difference. Hypothyroidism means the thyroid is underactive and produces too little hormone, leading to symptoms like fatigue or feeling cold more often.

Hyperthyroidism, on the other hand, means it is overactive and produces too much hormone, causing the opposite effect and speeding up your system. This can lead to weight loss or rapid heartbeats. Because the symptoms and treatments differ, it’s important to know which condition is being described, even though the terms sound similar.

Prescription labels often include both of these terms, and their writing is very similar, but that doesn’t mean they are interchangeable.

A "dose" is the specific amount taken at one time, like a pill or 10 milligrams. "Dosage" is the overall plan. It includes how much to take, how often, and for how long. Following both correctly helps ensure the treatment works as intended.

Imagine opening your lab results and seeing the word "negative." In everyday language, that sounds like bad news, but in medicine, it often means the opposite.

In medical testing, "negative" usually means no sign of the condition was found. For example, a negative strep test means you don’t have a strep infection. A "positive," however, means something was detected, and it confirms the presence of the condition. It’s a simple switch in meaning, but it can feel confusing at first.

When reading test results, many people look for the word "normal." If they don’t see it, they may feel uneasy. But "normal" is not the only word that can describe healthy scenarios.

In medicine, "normal" means everything appears exactly as expected. No unusual findings, nothing to worry about. "Unremarkable," another word you might find in test results, is not necessarily a bad word. In general, it means whatever findings there may be, there’s nothing that requires follow-up. Despite how it sounds, "unremarkable" can be just as reassuring as "normal."

You pick up a prescription labeled "for aural use." It looks familiar, but something feels off. Is it the same as oral? This mix-up happens because, in English, the words sound identical, but they refer to different parts of the body.

"Aural" relates to the ears and is used for treatments like ear drops. On the other side, "oral" refers to the mouth, including medication you swallow or let dissolve.

A medication labeled for aural use is designed specifically for the ear canal and should not be taken by mouth. When instructions aren’t clear, it’s always worth double-checking before using the medication.

Medical reports often include terms that sound technical and unfamiliar. Take "physiologic," it sounds pretty similar to "pathologic," so should one worry? Let’s see the difference.

"Physiologic" refers to normal body functions. It describes processes that occur as part of a healthy system. "Pathologic" is the opposite; it refers to changes caused by disease or abnormal conditions. Doctors use these terms to separate what is expected from what may require treatment. But even if both sound equally serious at first, your physician is the only one who can actually tell you if your hunch is right or not.

The word "chronic" often carries a heavy tone, even though its meaning is more straightforward than it seems. Funny enough, the opposite, "acute," seems light, but it generally isn’t.

"Chronic" refers to a condition that lasts for a long period, usually one year or longer. It doesn’t refer to severity, but duration. "Acute," instead, refers to a condition that develops suddenly and requires immediate attention. These terms describe timing, not seriousness, which is an important distinction when discussing a diagnosis.

Similar to the thyroid, blood pressure discussions often include terms that sound nearly identical, which can make them easy to confuse.

"Hypertension" means high blood pressure, and it’s linked to long-term health concerns if not managed. "Hypotension" means low blood pressure, which may cause symptoms like dizziness, but it’s often less worrying. Understanding the difference helps make sense of your readings and what your doctor is monitoring over time.