Survivors in Incredible Conditions: 5 Inspiring Rescue Stories

By data "LizaAlert", about 20% of Russians who are missing are lost in the forest. IN THE USA more 47,000 people seek medical attention after being attacked by wild animals. And according to another statistics2,000 people are swept out to sea every year.

Wildlife frightens with its unpredictability. That is why we are so inspired by stories about resourceful and courageous people who were able to survive in the taiga, the ocean and the jungle. In this article, we have collected five such examples.

76 days in the ocean

Stephen Callahan is a successful yachtsman. In January 1982 he planned sail from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean on a custom-designed sloop, the Napoleon Solo.

However, a week after the start of the journey, Callahan got into a storm, during which his ship was damaged. In his book Adrift: 76 Days Captured by the Sea, he later wrotethat, most likely, it was rammed by a whale or a shark.

Be that as it may, the ship began to sink, and Callahan had to be evacuated from it on an inflatable raft. In addition, he repeatedly dived to the sinking ship to grab survival gear.

He managed to get a sleeping bag and an emergency kit containing some food, navigation charts, scuba a gun, flares, a torch, three solar distillers to produce drinking water, and the book Survival in sea".

Meager food supplies were exhausted, and Callahan had to fish with a harpoon. He ate sea bream, triggerfish, flying fish and captured birds. Salt water was filtered using solar distillers, and Callahan also used various devices to collect raindrops.

However, despite all these efforts, it was hardly possible to collect about half a liter of liquid per day. Traveler then wrotethat fish blood also helped him not to die of thirst. She, thanks to vitamins and minerals, prevented the development of scurvy.

Callahan made several attempts to contact passing ships with flares. However, the raft was too small to be seen.

During his adventure, Callahan encountered sharks, which had to be fought off with a harpoon, wear and tear of the inflatable raft and equipment breakdowns, physical exhaustion, dehydration and stress. By the 50th day, his entire body was covered with ulcers, which were corroded by salt water, but he could not wash it off: distillers produced too little liquid.

Exhausted and a third of his weight gone, Callahan finally approached the island of Marie-Galante. Flocks of birds circled over his raft, thanks to which the traveler was noticed by a local fisherman. He was rushed to the hospital where he spent six weeks.

Interestingly, even in such terrible conditions, Callahan continued to admire nature. In his book there is story about how he drifted on a raft and admired the night sky. The man wrote that it was "a view of heaven from a place in hell."

Despite the trials, Callahan did not stop loving yachting and the sea. Since his recovery, he has sailed dozens of times, mostly alone. Based on his adventures, a book has been written and several films have been shot. And when creating Callahan's Life of Pi, even asked become an ocean survival consultant.

18 days in a cave

After training in June 2018, 12 players from the Thai soccer team along with their coach decided to explore the nearby cave Tham Luang is one of the longest in Thailand. In the rainy seasons, it was flooded, but in sunny weather the place was considered safe. That day was just like that.

However, when they entered the cave, a flood suddenly began. The guys had to move deeper into the air pocket. The way back was flooded and the team was trapped.

But they did not lose heart. So that the guys did not panic, the trainer suggested that they practice meditation. Then it became clear that it was unbearable to just sit still, so they decided to dig a tunnel - suddenly it would be possible to make a way out. And although the coach understood that it was useless, he did not stop the children: they needed some kind of activity and a goal that would give them hope.

They didn't have food or water. They could only lick the droplets of liquid flowing from the stalactites.

While the children were in the cave, a noise arose upstairs - the Thai authorities invited British divers who could swim through the flooded passages and pull the boys out. But a few problems arose.

There were only two ways to do this: wait until the water subsided, or try to teach children to dive so that they themselves, using the necessary equipment, could climb up. It was dangerous to wait: it is not known how long the guys could have lasted in the cave without food. In addition, several of them fell ill, one even developed pneumonia.

Then one of the "fur seals" came up with the idea: to introduce children anesthetic, and when they fall asleep, take them upstairs in turn. In order to deliver at least one child in this way, the diver needed 5-8 hours. Among themselves, experts said: "It's good if at least half of the children survive."

Their anxiety increased when one of the experienced adult men involved in the rescue, died from lack of oxygen. However, there was nothing to do, and the boys began to be transported one by one to land.

Three days later, after a series of descents into the cave, exhausted and tired children were returned to their parents. The public rejoiced: all the boys from 11 to 16 years old and their coach survived. Some of them had to meet their birthday In a cave. Therefore, when he saw his mother, one of them first asked: “Will you buy me a cake?”

12 days in taiga

At the end of July 2014, Karina Chikitova came to the village to visit her grandmother. The settlement was small - only 30 people, and around it - dense forest.

From there, the girl was supposed to be taken to her father for a couple of days. Therefore, when one evening her relatives did not find her anywhere, they did not worry: they thought that he had taken her away while her grandmother was sleeping. Communication in the settlement did not catch, so it was impossible to find out for sure. In addition, along with Karina, her puppy disappeared.

Soon, when the father came to his mother-in-law and said that he did not have a daughter at home, panic began. Parents first called the rescue service, and then gathered the neighbors and went in search of the girl.

The chance that she survived was minimal: at night in those places the temperature dropped to 12 ° C. A small child in light clothing would most likely freeze to death. In addition, the girl had nothing to eat and drink. But the main danger was represented by wild animals - bears and wolvesthat were found in that area.

The first days of searching yielded no results. However, a few days later, Karina's puppy, her permanent companion, ran out to the rescuers. Hope almost disappeared: the adults thought that he left because the girl died. Then search dogs were connected to the operation in order to find at least the body of the child. Unfortunately, the shepherd dogs could not recognize the smell, and the search continued for several more days.

What was the happiness of one of the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations when he noticed a child's figure in the tall grass. Karina was alive. She was quickly taken to intensive care, as the girl had lost a third of her weight and was exhausted. However, there were no serious injuries on her body.

When the girl came to herself, she said that all this time she had been drinking from puddles and eating wild berries. Most likely, thanks to her village experience, she knew which ones could be collected and which ones could not. At night, she slept on the ground, putting grass under her to make it softer. And her four-legged friend warmed Karina with his body. This story amazed the journalists: not every adult would have thought of this and not panicked.

Why Karina went into the forest at all is still a mystery. Some believe that she was lured there by spirits.

Now Karina feels well. She goes to school and does ballet, and a monument has been erected to her and her dog in the center of Yakutsk.

10 days in the jungle

On Christmas Eve 1971, Juliana Koepke and her mother were supposed to fly to Pucallpa, a Peruvian city where the girl's father worked at the zoological station. However, literally half an hour after departure, lightning struck the wing of the aircraft they were on board. "We are finished" said Juliana's mom.

Airplane fell into the tropical jungle, and 92 people who were on it died. Stayed alive only 17-year-old blond teenage girl - Juliana. She had several abrasions and scratches, she broke her collarbone and received a severe concussion. After landing, Juliana was in a state of dope for several more days - then she came to herself, then turned off again.

At that time, helicopters of the rescue team were circling over the accident site, but no victims could be seen because of the tall trees. At some point, Juliana stopped hearing the roar of their engines and realized that only she herself could save herself.

Near the wreckage of the plane, the girl found a bag of sweets, which ate for 8 days, as well as a small spring with drinking water. From the stories of her father, a zoologist, Juliana knew that if you follow the flow of the river, then at some point you can come across a settlement.

However, it was dangerous to move on land: predators and poisonous animals live in the tropics. snakes. Therefore, the girl decided to go into the water and walk along the bottom, leaning on a stick. Soon the current intensified, and the tired Juliana simply floated along it, lying on her back.

Most of all, the girl was worried about the wound on her arm - the larvae of blowflies had already managed to start up in it. When her dog had something similar, Juliana's father washed the wound with kerosene.

And then the girl was lucky for the second time: she came across a fishing house, where she was able to stop to take a breath. There she found an old motorboat from which she could pump out some fuel and fill it with wound. The larvae began to come out: in total that day, Juliana pulled out about 30 of them.

Having fallen without strength, the girl fell asleep. She woke up already from the fact that for the first time in 10 days she heard human speech. The owners, two local men, were walking towards the fishing house. They were taken aback, but quickly helped Juliana and took her to the nearest hospital. The girl was saved.

Thanks to the basic skills of survival in the wild, luck and fortitude, the young traveler was able to overcome a huge distance in the impenetrable jungle and still stay alive. In 2000, the documentary Wings of Hope was made about these adventures.

5 days in the canyon

In April 2003, rock climber Aron Ralston went solo into a canyon in the national park. As he descended the lower slope, the boulder above shifted. The stone fell, crushing the bones in his left arm. The right one was sandwiched between him and the canyon wall.

It turned out to be difficult to lift or break the cobblestone: it weighed 360 kg. So Ralston was trapped. From stocks - two burritos and a small bottle of water.

After three days of trying to free himself, the man realized that the only chance to get out was to amputate his arm. However, he has the right tools did not have.

After running out of food and water on the fifth day, Ralston decided to drink his own urine. On the canyon wall cut out your name, date of birth and expected date of death, and then filmed a farewell address to the family on video. He didn't expect to survive the night.

However, he soon began to hallucinate, and Ralston sawlike playing with an unborn child. He took this as a good sign. The vision gave him strength and hope.

When he awoke at dawn the next day, he found that his arm had begun to decompose due to lack of circulation. Then the idea came to him to “twist” it from the joints, and then tear it out of the body. This plan worked. The remaining tissues and tendons were amputated by Ralston with a multitool. The painful process took an hour.

Freed, rock climber got out from the canyon, in which he spent five painful days, and went down a sheer wall. He didn't have a phone, and he left his car far away. However, after 10 km, he met a family of tourists who gave him food and water and called the rescuers.

A helicopter soon followed him and took Ralston to the hospital. The man lost 18 kg of weight, 25% of which was blood. The hand left in the canyon was also recovered. In order to move the boulder, it took 13 people, a winch and a hydraulic jack. Ralston decided to cremate the limb and scatter its ashes over the park.

The man documented his experience in an autobiographical book "Between Rock and Hard Place" And later, according to his story, the film "127 Hours" was shot with James Franco in the title role.

After his recovery, Ralston continued to rock climb.