Tuesday, 27 September 2016

Most Amazing Story Of Survival

By Pamela Richardson


Creative narrators have weaved the most amazing stories and even made movies on imaginary survival. But it is always easy to know whether a story of survival is genuine or not. The presence of witnesses to verify lends credibility to stories. Coverage by major media outlets and alignment to natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, etc confirms such stories. Consider these true yet unbelievable stories.

The Robertson family was lost in the sea for 38 days before Japanese fishermen came to their rescue in 1971. Their aim was to take a few days off touring different ports. Along the way, a school of whales wrecked their boat forcing them to survive 38 days on food meant for 6 days. It is Japanese fishermen who rescued them.

Harrison Okene was hired to cook for people on board Jackson-4 when it capsized. He had gone to the toilet when the tragedy occurred off the Nigerian coast. Luckily for him, he survived in an air bubble for three days before rescuers looking for the surface of the boat discovered him. Since the incidence in 2013, he vowed never to be on board a boat again.

28 men set out on an Endurance expedition in 1914. Their ship got stuck in ice in the Antarctica. The ice was too much and their ship named Endurance got stuck. They used life boats to access the nearest island over 14 days. From there, the nearest inhabited island was in Georgian territory and 1000 miles away. Though all crew members survived, their dogs were not lucky after their rations run low.

Juliane Koepcke has two stories of survival to tell. First was as a lone survivor when LANSA Flight 508 was brought down by lightening on Christmas Eve in 1971. She landed on the flow of the Peruvian rain forest with a fractured collar bone over a buttered and bruised body. No one found her for nine days until maggots attacked her wounds and she had to keep them off using gasoline. She would be found by lumber workers nine days later.

Apollo 13 crew made a miraculous return to earth in 1970 after their shuttle was damaged during launch. Attempted re-entry was a gamble. They only had ration to last one and a half days for two people. It eventually took them three days to make the daring return. They used a lunar lifeboat that landed them safely back to earth. The only harm they encountered was severe dehydration especially for Hayse.

2003 was the year Ralston caught the eye of the world after amputating his hand in order to save his life. He was hanging off the cliff after climbing went wrong for three days. He decided to cut off his arm but all methods failed. He eventually used a pocketknife after trying other methods for two days. This led to excessive loss of blood but rescue came in the form of a European couple, six hours later. He was nearing death.

Ada Blackjack, a native Inupiat was hired in 1921 as a cook by Vilhjamur Stephenson and Crawford Allan. The two led an expedition to claim Wrangle Islands. They left five people as territory markers but their food ration was depleted. The cook and an ailing crew were left behind as three others went in search of food, never to return. Blackjack was rescued two years later after her ailing companion had long died.




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