Endurance In Extremity (Tales Of Stubborn Survival Or Persistence)

[rynner2]

French grandmother survives six days after falling down Alpine ravine
A 78-year-old French grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease survived for nearly a week after falling down a ravine on a walk in an Alpine forest before being found.
Published: 12:39AM BST 07 Sep 2010

Michele Riotton said she remembers having “slipped into a ravine and then falling asleep” while on a walk through a forest after leaving her home in the village of Armoy on August 29.

Dressed in a light jacket, she spent six nights out in the open and had nothing to eat the whole time except two biscuits that had been stuffed in a pocket and just rainwater that ran down her face to drink. She kept herself warm by covering herself with leaves.

I wasn’t afraid,” said Riotton. “I thought mostly about the worry I was causing my children and grandchildren.”

A two-day search, including a helicopter, had been mounted for Riotton, without success.

A second search was conducted on Saturday, which found her lying at the bottom of a steep ravine in a pile of leaves just 700 metres from her home, suffering from bruises on her hands and dehydration.

“We didn’t want to abandon the family, even if it’s true deep inside we held little hope of finding her alive. It is a miracle,” said resident Patrice Frossard, who complained that the search had been called off too soon.

Mrs Riotton, speaking from her hospital bed in the French Alpine town of Thonon-les-Bains, said she had now had enough of forests and wanted to “go to a retirement home”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... avine.html

 

[rynner2]

Another French granny:

Grandmother survives on water after she's locked in bathroom for THREE WEEKS... and neighbours ignored her banging
By Ian Sparks
Last updated at 9:54 AM on 24th November 2010

A French pensioner spent three weeks locked in her own bathroom after the lock snapped behind her on November 1.
The 69-year-old grandmother survived on tap water in the windowless room before a concerned neighbour finally alerted police.
Residents in her apartment building in Essonne, near Paris, said they had heard banging in the middle of the night, but thought it was simply 'noisy workmen'.

Neighbours alerted the authorities when they noticed something at the pensioner's door had gone unclaimed for ten days.
A police spokesman said: "We broke into the flat and heard noises so broke the bathroom door down.
'The lock had snapped off and she was trapped. There were no windows and no way out.
'She was badly mal-nourished and in a state of shock and has been taken to hospital to recover from her ordeal.'
She is expected to recover.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z16C6Utb2A

Dozy neighbours...

 

[rynner2]

Three Samoan teenagers rescued after 50 days adrift at sea in tiny boat
Three Samoan teenagers have survived 50 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean, being found alive by a tuna fishing vessel long after their families had given them up for dead.
By Bonnie Malkin, Christchurch 9:45AM GMT 25 Nov 2010

The youths, two aged 15 and one aged 14, had disappeared on Oct 5 in a tiny aluminium boat from the remote Atafu Atoll.

The trio were presumed to have drowned after unsuccessful searches by the New Zealand Air Force and Samoa had held a memorial service in their honour.

But, in a remarkable stroke of luck, the teenagers were spotted on Wednesday by a New Zealand tuna fishing boat which was far off its usual course.

Samuel Perez and Filo Filo, both 15 and Edward Nasau, 14, had drifted 800 miles and were in waters northeast of Fiji when they were rescued.

The first mate of the fishing boat the San Nikunau said that the boys had only eaten one seabird and a couple of coconuts during their time at sea.

In the days before their miraculous rescue, they had started drinking seawater, because it had not rained for some time, and would not have survived much longer, he said.

However, the teens had sustained surprisingly few injuries during their ordeal. They were thin and sunburnt, but otherwise fairly healthy and in good spirits.

"We got to them in a miracle," Tai Fredricsen, first mate of the San Nikunau, said.
"Yesterday we saw a small vessel, a little speed boat on our bows, and we knew it was a little weird," he told the Fairfax website Stuff.co.nz

Mr Fredricsen said the boat was initially spotted when it was about a mile off the bow.
"We had enough smarts to know there were people in it and those people were not supposed to be there."
"I pulled the vessel up as close as I could to them and asked them if they needed any help ... they said 'very much so'. They were ecstatic to see us."

Luckily, the San Nikunau had a medical officer on-board, who knew not to feed the trio too quickly. Instead they were put on a drip before slowly being given sips of water and small pieces of fruit that their bodies could absorb.

Soon they were strong enough to eat a full "kiwi breakfast", Mr Fredricsen said.

The boys are expected to be put ashore at Suva, the Fijian capital, in the next 24 hours where they will be checked at a hospital.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -boat.html

 

[escargot]

What a great story. Their mums'll want to hug them and spank them in equal measure! :lol:

 

[rynner2]

Factory worker survives being dragged through five-inch gap in machinery that broke his back, pelvis, arm, hips and ribs
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:55 AM on 24th March 2011

A factory worker was dragged through a five-inch gap in a steel processing machine - and lived to tell the tale.
As father-of-one Matthew Lowe went through the machine, his back was broken in two places, his pelvis was shattered, both hips and several ribs were fractured and his stomach and bowel were ruptured.
The only sound Matthew heard as his body was torn apart was his right arm snapping. :shock:

He was so badly hurt in the accident that his partner was told to 'expect the worst' when she arrived at the hospital where he was taken.
But two years after the near-death experience, Matthew's only visible sign of injury is a weakened right arm.
X-rays show how much metal surgeons had to put into the 25-year-old's body to pin him back together again.

Yesterday, Matthew, from Birdwell, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, said: 'I still don't know how I didn't die.
'As the machine dragged me through I just relaxed because I knew I couldn't do anything and I thought that was the end for me.'

Astonishingly, the machine dragged him all the way through, before depositing him on the floor with his clothes in tatters.
It was then that the pain hit him and other workers raced to help him after hearing his screams.

Matthew, who was a plate welder at the time, was taken to hospital in Barnsley where surgeons stabilised his injuries until he was later transferred to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield for further treatment.
In all, he spent a month in hospital and had to have six operations to pin his broken limbs back together again.

Although he now suffers occasional panic attacks because of his ordeal, Matthew said: 'I am very lucky to be alive.
'I don't really know how I managed to survive being dragged through such a tiny gap.
'Luckily my head went through a bigger gap before my body was dragged through what was a gap no wider than a CD case.'

Matthew was working at Compass Engineering's factory at Barugh near Barnsley, the firm he had worked for since leaving school, when he was injured shortly before Christmas 2008.
He had been working on a computer-controlled conveyor which moves metal into the factory when he was dragged into it.

He said: 'I was walking away when my overalls were caught up in the machinery and I was pulled backwards.
'My head went one side of the machine but my body was dragged sideways through a gap just five inches wide.

'As soon as the machine got me I knew what was going to happen to I just relaxed and hoped for the best. There was nothing I could do to get away, I was completely trapped.
'In the end it crushed my body, ripped my clothes to shreds and literally spat me out at the other end, but I was still alive.
'I don't know how but I didn't lose consciousness, I just couldn't see for a while afterwards.
'There was no one else in that part of the factory so no could help me. It was only when I fell to the floor and started screaming that two workmen outside came to help me.'

After recovering from his injuries Matthew went back to work at Compass 18 months after the accident and is now training to be a site supervisor.
His partner teaching assistant Kim Swift, 29, mother of their daughter Evie,5, said: 'When I got to the hospital I was told to expect the worst because Matthew was so badly hurt.
'His face was purple and swollen and the whites of his eyes were electric red.
'Despite being so badly injured Matthew was awake and quite alert. It wasn't until later I discovered he had been dragged through this machine.'

Yesterday, there was no one available at Compass Engineering available to comment.
Compass and the German company that installed the conveyor system, used for moving heavy steel beams, are due to face magistrates in Barnsley today.
They are accused of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act over claims that the machine did not have a safety guard to protect workers from moving parts.
It is expected that the case will be adjourned for about a month.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1HWgol54o

 

[rynner2]

Posted: Sat 29-09-2007, 11:52 Post subject:

Woman survives eight days in mangled car
By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 1:49am BST 29/09/2007

Experience: I was trapped in a ravine for eight days
'Every now and then my mobile phone would light up as someone rang. I'd claw at my seatbelt, trying to reach it, then give up in pain'
Tanya Rider
The Guardian, Saturday 9 April 2011

It was 20 September 2007 and I had just finished the night shift at a local supermarket near my home in Maple Valley, Washington. I would have time for a few hours' sleep before the start of my second job at a clothes shop. My husband Tom and I were saving up to build our own house and were working ridiculously long hours.

After leaving the supermarket, my memory goes blank. I know I would have climbed into my blue Honda four-wheel drive and pulled out on to the motorway. But then my journey went terribly wrong. I still don't know why, but just minutes from home I veered off the road and plummeted into a 20ft-deep ravine.

When I came to, I was hanging from my seat at a strange angle, jammed hard against the steering wheel, with my seatbelt cutting into my chest. I tried to move, and cried out as pain shot through me. Looking down, I could see there was something wrong with my shoulder. My left arm was hanging at a weird angle and I couldn't move my fingers. I could feel the sickening crunch of broken ribs. My left leg was wedged tightly between the seat and dashboard, and had gone completely numb. I wondered how long legs can survive without circulation.

I felt confused, frightened and overwhelmingly tired. Maybe if I just let myself go, I thought, I'll wake up safe in my bed at home – but when I opened my eyes I was still trapped in the car.

I had no idea how long I'd been there. To stay calm, I focused on the fact that any minute now Tom would realise I was missing and come and find me. If he didn't get here first, I reasoned, someone was bound to see my crumpled vehicle at the bottom of a slope beside a busy road. What I didn't know was that my car had ploughed through a thick tangle of blackberry bushes that hid it from view.

Day faded into night. At some point I became aware of a blue light glowing in front of me. With a start I realised it was my mobile phone. I stretched as far as I could, but my body was pinned tight by the seatbelt and the steering wheel, and it remained just out of reach. "Tom!" I screamed. "Help me!" The phone screen went dark. My disappointment and frustration were intense, but I was too weak to cry. I just hung helplessly in my seat.

By now I was ravenously hungry and dehydrated. The car was filled with a disgusting smell of blood, sweat, vomit and urine. I started to hallucinate. I thought I was calling the emergency services. "I went off the road," I explained. "I need help." The operator laughed – "That's stupid" – and hung up. I turned to see my dog, Lady, who'd died years earlier, sitting in the car watching me. Every now and then my phone would light up as someone rang. I'd claw at my seatbelt, trying to reach it, then give up in pain.

I was slipping in and out of consciousness, but could tell from the cycles of light that several days had passed. It crossed my mind that I was dying and I accepted it matter-of-factly. At one point, the pain seemed to be fading and I felt as if I was standing in a sunny meadow. Then a noise jolted me back into the car. There were faces outside the window. I assumed it was another hallucination until I heard someone shout, "She's alive!"

I was cut out of the car and put into a medically induced coma while doctors catalogued my injuries. My kidneys were failing, I had a dislocated left shoulder, fractured ribs and vertebra, and my left clavicle had been snapped in two. My left leg had been so badly crushed that at one stage doctors thought they would have to amputate. Thankfully, it was saved.

When I woke in hospital after the first of many operations, Tom was by my side. He explained that for the first couple of days he'd thought I was just at work – our long hours meant we often missed each other. Then it had taken time to persuade the police I hadn't run away. When they finally tracked my mobile phone signal, it had taken rescuers less than 20 minutes to find me.

I haven't been back to the spot since the accident. Even now, four years later, I don't remember what happened or why I crashed, and I hope I never do. By some miracle I survived eight days at the bottom of a ravine, with terrible injuries and no food or water. I don't want to ask any questions.

• As told to Jacqui Paterson

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... -in-ravine

 

[rynner2]

Missing tourist Rita Chretien found alive in Nevada

A Canadian tourist missing in a remote wooded area of the US state of Nevada for seven weeks has been found alive near her stranded vehicle by hunters.
Rita Chretien, 56, told police her van had got stuck in mud in mid-March, and that her husband Albert, 59, had gone to get help on foot.
She said she had survived since then on "trail mix" snack food and water.

Police abandoned the search for the couple in April but have now resumed the hunt for Mr Chretien.
The couple were driving from their home in Penticton, British Columbia, to Las Vegas, when they decided to go off-road to see the landscape in Elko County, one of America's largest and most sparsely-populated counties.

One of their three sons, Raymond Chretien, said the family was "stunned" that their mother had been found alive.
"We haven't fully digested it. This is a miracle," he told the Portland Oregonian.
He said his mother, who lost 20-30lb (9-14kg) during her ordeal and is now recovering in hospital, doubted if she would have survived another three days in the woods.
She had apologised for the worry she had caused her relatives, he added.

Officials said weather over the past month in the area where the couple got lost had included snow, rain and chilly temperatures.
"I don't believe they were prepared for winter weather," Raymond Chretien said. "They don't go camping."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13320977

 

[rynner2]

Dutch tourist found alive 19 days after disappearing on walking holiday in Spain
A woman tourist who went missing for 19 days while on a walking holiday in southern Spain has been found alive at the bottom of a ravine in what rescuers described as “a true miracle”.
By Fiona Govan, Madrid
12:42PM BST 06 Jul 2011

Mary-Anne Goossens, a 48-year-old Dutch mother of two, was discovered by climbers early Wednesday morning nearly three weeks after she set off on a hike during a holiday to Andalusia.
She survived without food or shelter in a ravine near the source of the Chillar river by drinking water from its banks.

Describing herself as “weak and hungry” she amazed rescuers by walking from the helicopter into the emergency unit of the nearby Comarcal de la Axarquia after being airlifted to safety.
The hospital said that all her vital signs were normal but they would keep her in overnight for observation.

The family of the woman, a librarian from the small village of Stramproy in the south of the Netherlands near the Belgian border, had launched a search for her in the area around Nerja, a popular resort on Spain’s southern coast, after they failed to hear from her during the ten day holiday.

They managed to trace her last known movements on the morning of June 17 to the village of Frigiliana, a popular setting off point for excursions into the Sierra Almijara Natural Park.

Details of the missing 19 days are still sketchy but a friend of the family told the Daily Telegraph that she had become lost in the mountains after straying off the path.
”We don’t have all the details yet but it seems that she got lost after spending a day hiking in a beautiful natural area. It got dark very quickly and she kept walking and walking hoping to find a village,” said Niek Jochemus, a family friend from her home in Stramproy.
”She spent a couple of days walking and then became so weak she couldn’t walk anymore and decided it was best to stay near water and hope that someone would find her soon.”

He described the moment that a call came through from Spain confirming Mrs Goossens had been found alive. “I was here at the house with the family when she came on the line and said she was OK and it was the most amazing moment.
”There were goose bumps all over the place and we ran into the garden and jumped around whooping with joy.”

He added that they were looking forward to hearing the details of her ordeal. “We’re very curious to find out exactly what happened out there but we’ll wait till she’s recovered a little.”
He said that it had been a hard two weeks not knowing what had happened to her.
”Obviously we went through various options, that she may have fallen down a cliff and was injured or that she could have been taken by someone with bad intentions. We even considered that she had just disappeared of her own volition to start a new life somewhere but dismissed that as impossible.

”As the days wore on it became harder and harder to believe in a happy ending but we never gave up hope and the news that she has been found alive and well is just incredible,” Mr Jochemus said.

Her ex-husband and two sons boarded a flight to Malaga from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport Wednesday afternoon to be at her bedside.
Speaking just before take-off her son Fritz Horten said: “It’s definitely our mother and she’s OK. We’re totally happy and on our way to see her now.”

A group of three climbers had spotted Mrs Goossens early Wednesday morning while they were walking along the banks of the Chillar river. Unable to rescue her themselves they alerted mountain rescue services who used a helicopter to reach her.
”It was a difficult rescue as she was in a hard to reach area,” said a spokesman from the mountain rescue arm of the Guardia Civil. “That she was in such good shape and could even walk after surviving such an ordeal is a true miracle.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... Spain.html

 

[rynner2]

Brains shrink as we age, survey shows
By John von Radowitz
Tuesday, 26 July 2011

A shrinking brain may be the price to be paid for being human, a study has found. Only humans have brains that get smaller with age, the research has indicated.

US researchers led by Dr Chet Sherwood, from George Washington University in Washington DC, carried out magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans of 99 chimpanzees aged 10 to 51.
The results were compared with MRI scans of 87 humans over an equivalent age range of 22 to 88.

The scans showed a decrease in the volume of all major brain structures over the course of human life. In contrast, chimpanzees showed no significant age-related changes to their brains.
"Humans may be uniquely vulnerable to age-related neurodegeneration,"the report concluded.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 25937.html

 

[rynner2]

Tennessee hunter lost for five days ate worms to survive
Squirrel hunting trip went badly wrong for visitor to Meeman Shelby Forest state park
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 September 2011 22.22 BST

A man who became separated from his friends in dense forest during a squirrel hunting trip in western Tennessee says he ate worms and drank muddy water to survive for five days in the wild before he was found.

Corrections officer Bill Lawrence said he gathered rainwater in his hunting vest and tried to stay calm throughout his ordeal. Authorities said they conducted the longest search in decades in the 13,000-acre Meeman Shelby Forest state park before the man was discovered on Sunday.

Lawrence lost sight of his two hunting companions while chasing a squirrel and became alarmed when his shots were the only ones he could hear, the Commercial Appeal newspaper reported.

After his friends reporting him as missing, searchers used trained dogs, horses, all-terrain vehicles, boats, police vehicles and helicopters as they scoured the thick woods.

Meanwhile, Lawrence kept walking, searching for food and water. "I was drinking muddy water … eating worms. Yeah, I'd seen that on TV. I ate worms."

Lawrence said he had a shotgun, 15 shells, two bottles of water, a flashlight, a can of insect spray, a squirrel call and a can of dipping tobacco, but he did not have a mobile phone to summon help.

He shot his gun whenever he thought he heard someone, but his shells ran out on Saturday.
"Everything was against him from the very beginning," said park manager Steve Smith. Helicopter spotters had difficulty peering into the dense forest canopy and searchers were hampered by extreme heat.

Lawrence eventually reached a road on Sunday, collapsed and was found by passersby. He suffered dehydration and severe insect bites.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/se ... to-survive

 

[Mythopoeika]

I would guess that he didn't catch any squirrels.

 

[rynner2]

Sole survivor of Bolivian plane crash saved by 'arrow of blood'
The sole survivor of a plane crash in Bolivia stayed alive by eating insects, drinking his own urine and painting an arrow in the ground with his blood to show rescuers where he was, according to an interview published in a Bolivian newspaper.
12:37AM BST 12 Sep 2011

Minor Vidal told the publication La Razon that he survived for 62 hours after the crash by using skills he had learned from the Boy Scouts and while pursuing his loves of camping and fishing. Those actions included filtering water through his clothes so that he could drink it and looking for an open space by a lagoon where he waited for his rescuers.

The 35-year-old pharmaceuticals and cosmetics salesman was travelling on an Aerocon flight from the eastern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz to Trinidad in the Amazon when the plane went down on Tuesday night.
Vidal said he was seated in the back of the plane and found himself trapped amid the wreckage. He was seriously injured in the head and the ribs but remained conscious.

"The plane crashed in the night, there was fire and the smell of gasoline," he said in the interview. "At first when nothing could be seen, I heard shouts, but afterward, everything fell silent. That moment was horrible."
Eight others died in the plane crash.

After crawling out of the wreckage on Wednesday, Vidal said, he drew an arrow with his blood in the ground to indicate the direction he had walked in. He also left his shirt in another spot as a sign for his rescuers.
A navy patrol boat spotted him on Friday on a river bank.

Seasonal fires set by farmers and ranchers had reduced visibility at the time of the crash. Aerocon spokesman Nelson Kinn said the plane's black box has been recuperated and sent to Brazil for analysis.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... blood.html

 

[escargot]

Aerocon spokesman Nelson Kinn said the plane's black box has been recuperated and sent to Brazil for analysis.

'recuperated'? Probably 'recovered'.

Anyway, what a cracking story!

 

[rynner2]

Hiker with broken leg survives for four days in Utah desert
Amos Richards fell in same canyon where climber cut off his arm with pocketknife in 2003, as depicted in 127 Hours
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 25 September 2011 22.09 BST

A hiker from North Carolina crawled for four days across the Utah desert after breaking his leg on a solo hike inspired by a Hollywood film about a man who cut off his own arm after being trapped in the same canyon. [Oh, the irony!]

Amos Wayne Richards, 64, from Concord, North Carolina, is now recovering at home. He said he was inspired to hike Little Blue John Canyon after he saw the Oscar-nominated film 127 Hours, but fell 10ft (three metres) during his trek on 8 September.

Canyonlands national park rangers found Richards four days later. Along with the leg injury, he dislocated his shoulder but was able to work it back into place.
"It took me about three or four minutes to work my shoulder and get it back in place, and once I got it back in place, I stood up and realised my ankle hurt a little bit," Richards told WBTV in Charlotte last week.

Without mobile phone reception and with only two protein bars to eat, Richards began crawling back to his car across the rocky terrain. He filled his water bottles with rain as he painstakingly retraced his steps, eventually dragging himself almost five miles.
"I was actually following my GPS, crawling right on top of my feet prints that I had hiked in on," Richards said.

Rangers first began looking for Richards on 9 September after his camping spot was found unattended, said Denny Ziemann, chief ranger for Canyonlands and Arches national parks. They discovered his car two days later at the trailhead for Little Blue John Canyon, which is part of the Canyonlands remote and rugged Maze District but technically outside park boundaries.

The search was "pretty quick and dirty" once they realised where Richards had gone hiking, Ziemann said. Within hours, a helicopter spotted Richards, who used the flash on his camera to catch the pilot's attention only a couple of miles from his car.

Richards was treated for the shattered leg and dehydration at a hospital in Moab, Utah, before returning to North Carolina to recover.
Ziemann said the result could have been much worse for Richards because he went hiking alone and without telling anybody about his plans.
"We make a lot of rescues of people, but we usually know where they are," Ziemann said. "They were either hiking with somebody and got hurt or if they were hiking alone, they told people where they were going."

In 2003, climber Aron Ralston hiked into the same canyon, also without telling anyone about his plans. He became trapped by a boulder and was forced to cut off his own arm to free himself. Ralston went on to detail his struggles in a book. His story was later adapted into 127 Hours.
[Also see: http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewt ... 474#216474 ]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/se ... tah-desert

 

[rynner2]

Man uses scuba gear to evade Australia bushfire

A man who stayed behind to defend his home from a bushfire in western Australia used scuba-diving equipment to escape the blaze.
While others in the town of Margaret River fled their homes, Peter Fabrici got his wife to safety and then went back to fire-proof his home.

Seeing houses in the distance going up in flames, he donned wet clothing, an oxygen tank and goggles.
When the flames got too close, he jumped into his neighbour's pool.

Before the bushfire arrived, the 53-year-old stuffed rags into gutters and fixed sprinklers on the roof to prepare his house for the flames.
"There were spot fires everywhere, the wind was increasing, the smoke was getting thicker and I basically stayed with the house as long as I could," he told Australian broadcaster Channel 9.

But when the flames approached, he was forced to submerge himself in his neighbour's pool and use the scuba-diving gear.
"It was 3.04 to 3.09, I remember looking at my watch. And just looking up and seeing the red and the black going over the top.
"I stuck my head up at the end of the lap pool, I had a direct view of our house and I was just absolutely amazed. There were no flames coming from it."

Mr Fabrici said his makeshift protective gear had made the difference.
"Without the clear vision and without a clear source of oxygen, there's no way of staying in a situation like that. But as it turned out, it all worked beautifully and the house is still there and I'm still alive."

At least 37 homes were destroyed and some 3,177 hectares (7,850 square miles) burned by the bushfire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15887502

 

[rynner2]

Alaska man survives being stranded in snow by eating frozen beer
Clifton Vial, an Alaskan man, survived for three days in a snowdrift by eating frozen beer.
12:49AM GMT 05 Dec 2011

Mr Vial, 52, an operator mechanic, was caught in the drift 40 miles outside Nome, Alaska, USA after driving his pickup truck from home to explore how far north a road would take him.

He was unable to dig out of his vehicle and had no mobile phone reception, so wearing nothing but tennis shoes, jeans and a £20 jacket, he climbed into his sleeping back and wrapped a towel round his feet.
"I made an attempt at digging myself out and realised how badly I was stuck," he told the Anchorage Daily News. "I would have been frostbit before I ever got the thing out of there."

Mr Vial's family was away and he realised no one would know he was missing for another day when he failed to show up for work.
Without food, and with temperatures dropping to -17C, he found a few cans of Coors Light beer in his truck that had frozen solid, and ate them like tinned food.
"I cut the lids off and dug it out with a knife," he said.
During the 60 hour ordeal, he said he lost 16lb, and began to hallucinate.

On Tuesday, his employer, Nome Joint Utility System, raised the alarm.
"He's a very punctual employee," said John Handeland, general manager. "By 4 o'clock we figured something was wrong,"

The Fire Department, co-workers and volunteers were mobilised to search the surrounding areas, before they found him. He was due to visit a doctor at the end of last week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -beer.html

 

[rynner2]

Race to reach war wounded rowers as they battle across the Atlantic
The challenge to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic was hard enough for the British war veterans, seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has now got a whole lot harder.
By Robert Mendick, Chief reporter
9:00PM GMT 31 Dec 2011

Last night the four men, who have all lost limbs in combat, and two able-bodied crewmates, were adrift in the middle of the ocean with a dwindling supply of drinking water. They have had to stop rowing during the day to conserve their energy and ensure they do not dehydrate in the baking heat.

The race is now on to reach them with fresh water before they run out of their emergency supply in about nine days time. A rescue boat with 300 litres of bottled water on-board is about a week’s sailing away. There is little room for error.

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... antic.html

Wish them luck...

 

[rynner2]

These stories are usually about people, but this is quite remarkable:

Montana dog found alive four days after avalanche that killed owner
Welsh corgi named Ole returns to Cook City Alpine Motel after search-and-rescue teams believed he had been buried
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 January 2012 22.26 GMT

A dog that was feared dead after it was swept away in a weekend avalanche that killed its owner showed up four days later at the Montana motel where its owners had stayed the night before the avalanche struck.

Search-and-rescue team member Bill Whittle said he was "positive" that the Welsh corgi named Ole had been buried in Saturday's avalanche.
"The avalanche guys were up there on Monday investigating and they were looking for the dog, too, and never saw any signs," he said.

But on Wednesday, Ole showed up exhausted and hungry back at the motel, four miles from where the slide occurred, the Billings Gazette reported.
"When I first saw the dog, it was sitting in front of their room staring at the door," Cooke City Alpine Motel owner Robert Weinstein told the Associated Press.

Dave Gaillard of Bozeman, Montana, was skiing with his wife when the avalanche struck near Cooke City, an old mining town just outside Yellowstone National Park.
"His last words to me were: 'Retreat to the trees.' I think he saw what was coming from above that I did not see," Kerry Corcoran Gaillard told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Gaillard's daughter, 11-year-old Marguerite, was putting photos of Ole on poster board as a memorial Wednesday afternoon.
"She found out when she was halfway done with that that Ole was still alive," said Gaillard's stepdaughter, Silver Brelsford.
Whittle drove the dog back to the family in Bozeman.
"He was tired," Brelsford told the AP. "He's doing really well now."

Sidney resident Jody Ray Verhasselt, 46, also died Saturday in another avalanche while snowmobiling north of Cooke City. The two New Year's Eve avalanche deaths have taken a toll on the small mountain community.

"We needed this," Whittle said of Ole's survival. "It kind of cheered everyone up."

Searchers recovered Gaillard's body earlier this week. Family members were preparing for his funeral on Friday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ja ... -alive-ole

 

[rynner2]

Re: Amazing Survival

Hadn't heard of this before, and on search her story didn't come up as on the FTMB yet, so here goes:

LINK

On Christmas Eve 1971, German teenager Juliane Koepcke sat next to her mother in the window seat of a Lockheed Electra. She had just graduated from high school in Lima, Peru, and was on her way to Pucallpa, where she and her mother would rendezvous with her father, biologist Hans Koepcke. But the plane never made it.

Juliane Koepcke tells her own story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17476615

Juliane Koepcke told her story to Outlook from the BBC World Service. Listen to the programme [via link]

 

[special_farces]

Almost 100 years ago polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton set out to try and cross the Antarctic and failed.

His expedition is seen as one of history's greatest stories of survival and leadership. When his ship sank Shackleton and five others travelled 800 miles in a small lifeboat to find help.

Now a team are preparing to recreate the journey in an exact replica of the lifeboat. Robert Hall reports from Dulwich College in south London, where the original still survives.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17493330

The report above is a bit mangled. The main expedition vessel, Endurance, was ice-bound, eventually being crushed and lost. The crew then trekked on foot across the sea ice to set up a camp and await spring. As the ice opened up they used the salvaged lifeboats to sail / row to Elephant Island, setting up a base. The crew then fitted out the James Caird and Shackleton and 5 volunteers set off on one of the worse journeys in a small boat ever recorded. 800 miles later, they reached the southern shore of South Georgia. Shackleton, Worsley and Crean then walked across the island. Reaching the whaling station at Stromness, they effected a rescue of the crew left on the south coast and Elephant Island.

I'd recommend 'South with Endurance' featuring Frank Hurleys photographs.

 

[rynner2]

The sub-heading of this story is a bit mangled too!

Man survives Niagara Falls plunge
Police say reasons for man who was seen climbing over a fence beside the falls jumping are as yet unknown
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 May 2012 01.08 BST

A man survived a plunge of at least 180ft (55 metres) over Niagara Falls in an apparent suicide attempt on Monday – only the third person known to have lived after going over the falls without a safety device.

Niagara Parks Police said witnesses reported seeing the man climb over a railing up to 30ft (9 metres) out over the Horseshoe Falls at 10.20am local time and "deliberately jump" into the Niagara River. Seriously injured, he surfaced in the lower Niagara River basin near the Journey Behind the Falls observation platform and managed to make it to shore on his own.

"He waded ashore," said platoon chief Dan Orescanin of the Niagara Falls fire department. "He must have gotten swept into an eddy, floated over there and was able to get out on his own.
"That's another stroke of luck," Orescanin said. "If he was in the main current, he would have been swept down river."
Orescanin said the man was conscious and talking at first but got quiet. He appeared to have chest injuries, including broken ribs and a collapsed lung, Orescanin said.

The man was airlifted to Hamilton general hospital with what police initially said were life-threatening injuries. Hospital spokeswoman Agnes Bongers said later that the man was critically injured, but was expected to survive.
Authorities did not release the man's name.

Horseshoe Falls, on the Canadian side of the river, is the tallest of the three main falls, higher than the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

The man, believed to be in his 30s or 40s, was rescued about two hours later after fire department rescuers rappelled down the steep and rocky gorge and pulled him in a basket back up the cliff.
"It was very difficult. Between the shale and the boulders, and everything is wet and slick. It's slimy," Orescanin said.
About seven rescuers struggled to carry the basket up to a point where it could be lifted with ropes suspended from an aerial truck.
"We had to basically hand-carry him back up, a foot at a time, up the rope," the chief said.

The rescue came weeks before daredevil Nik Wallenda plans to walk over Niagara Falls on a tightrope after convincing United States and Canadian officials to grant an exception to laws prohibiting stunting.

Although several daredevils have survived trips over the falls in barrels or other contraptions, beginning with Annie Edison Taylor in 1901, few have survived unprotected. In 1960, seven-year-old Roger Woodward was swept over the falls wearing a life jacket and survived.

Authorities don't believe Monday's plunge, on a warm and sunny Victoria Day holiday in Canada, was a stunt.
"Based on witness statements and surveillance video, it doesn't appear in any way, shape, or form that this was anything other than a suicide attempt," Niagara Parks police sergeant Chris Gallagher said.

More than 6m cubic feet (0.17m cubic metres) of water go over the brink of the Falls every minute during peak daytime tourist hours, according to the Niagara Parks Commission.
The last person to go over the Falls unaided and survive was a 30-year-old Canadian man in March 2009. In October 2003, Kirk Jones survived his plunge over the falls.

After getting the call on Monday, rescuers didn't immediately know whether the man at the bottom of the gorge had gone over the brink or entered the water at the base.
"When we heard that he had gone over the falls we were shocked," Orescanin said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ma ... lls-plunge

 

[ramonmercado]

Shipwrecked Alaska teen Ryan Harris rescued from bin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19564889

A photo taken from a nearby vessel shows the Coast Guard helicopter as it rescued Harris

A teenage Alaska fisherman cast adrift when a wave sank his boat floated for 26 hours in a plastic fish bin before his rescue by the US Coast Guard.

Ryan Harris, 19, spent Friday night in a 4ft (1.2m) by 4ft container before he was spotted.

His shipmate was able to don a survival suit after their 28-ft boat overturned off the coast of Sitka, Alaska, and drifted safely to shore.

Mr Harris told news media he sang songs to keep his spirits up.

The Kaitlin Rai overturned on Friday afternoon, tossing Mr Harris and crew mate Stonie "Mac" Huffman into the water.

Mr Harris took refuge in a bin used to store fish, and the two men were soon separated by the waves.

Mr Harris said he repeated to himself for hours the mantra, "I'm Ryan Hunter Harris and I'm not going to die here", and sang Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Row, Row, Row Your Boat, he told the Daily Sitka Sentinel.

"I never thought I was going to die, but I was worried about Mac," Mr Harris told the newspaper.

 

[ramonmercado]

Motorcyclist found alive in ditch three days after crash
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-19635910

A motorcyclist has been found alive six feet down a ditch in South Yorkshire almost three days after crashing.

The 40-year-old man had been reported missing by his partner after he went out on his new motorbike last Tuesday, sparking a major police search.

Police said he was found seriously injured in the ditch near Thorne where he had been for three nights.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

It is a credit to his determination that he is still alive”

Insp Rob Cocker
Insp Rob Cocker said: "All officers feared the worst and it was very pleasing to find the man alive."

The man, from Goole, East Yorkshire, was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary where he is being treated for injuries including broken ribs and hypothermia.

Humberside Police said the man, who has not been named, was reported missing by his partner after he failed to turn up for work a day after she last spoke to him.

A missing person investigation was started by police on Wednesday.

Police said the last thing they knew was that the man had been planning to go out riding on his bike last Tuesday.

Bike debris
Insp Cocker said it was also established that his phone had not been used for at least 24 hours nor moved from its location in a very unpopulated, large rural area, south of Snaith.

A major police search began with two full days of searching rivers, reservoirs, fields, ditches and houses, and any other likely location that the man could have been.

Police said a small amount of debris from a motorbike had been found at the A614 near Thorne at 11:20 BST last Thursday.

Firefighters and paramedics were called to join the search and the man was found at 12:14 BST lying in water in a ditch between East Cowick and Thorne.

Police said they believed the biker had crashed into a signpost and travelled 200m further along the carriageway before coming to rest in the ditch.

Insp Cocker said: "This was a large-scale missing person inquiry and required resources being pulled in from Scunthorpe and Hull and the use of the South Yorkshire helicopter for three days."

He added: "It is a credit to his determination that he is still alive."

 

[GNC]

Full story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22477414

A woman has been pulled alive from the ruins of an eight-storey building that collapsed in a suburb of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, 17 days ago.

Rescuers said the woman, named Reshma, was found in the remains of the second floor of the Rana Plaza after they heard her crying: "Please save me."

She has been taken to hospital, but is not thought to have serious injuries.

More than 1,000 are now confirmed to have died, most of them women working in clothes factories....

Soldiers were reported to have been preparing to break through a large concrete slab at about 15:15 local time (10:15 GMT) on Friday when the woman was discovered.

The worker who first discovered her told the BBC Bengali service: "I was cutting iron rods when I suddenly found a silvery stick just moving from a hole.

"I looked closer and heard someone calling 'Please save me'. I immediately called over soldiers and firefighters."

Officers ordered workers operating heavy machinery to stop, and rescuers used video and audio detection equipment to locate her exact position.

Crews saw a woman waving her hand, and she shouted "I'm still here" and told rescuers her name was Reshma.

Within minutes, hundreds of soldiers and firefighters rushed to the scene to help clear the rubble, says the BBC's Akbar Hossain in Dhaka.

The woman said that she was not badly hurt, and she was given water and biscuits while handsaws and drilling equipment were brought in to cut through iron rods and debris.

Rescuers worked for 40 minutes before finally pulling her from the rubble, amid cheers from the crowd.

She was taken to an ambulance and then rushed to the nearby Combined Military Hospital for evaluation and treatment.

She later told local TV from her hospital bed that she never dreamt she would see daylight again.

"I heard voices of the rescue workers for several days. I kept hitting the wreckage with sticks and rods to attract their attention. No-one heard me," she said.

"I ate dried food for 15 days. The last two days I had nothing but water..."

Such a dreadful story, but I suppose we should be thankful there were any survivors at all, especially after that length of time. Far from thankful that it happened in the first place.

 

[rynner2]

A remarkable story!

Man survives three days trapped under sea
[Video]
13 June 2013 Last updated at 16:00

A chef for an oil company has survived three days trapped at the bottom of the sea after his boat capsized off the coast of Nigeria.
Harrison Okene managed to survive in a small air pocket, drinking Coca Cola.

His rescue came down only to chance, when he responded to the distant sound of nearby divers who were expecting to recover bodies from the boat.
Jed Chamberlain, from DCN Global diving company, described how the rescue unfolded.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22892658

And after he was rescued, he had to spend two and a half days in a decompression chamber. No wonder he gets nightmares.

 

[Pietro_Mercurios]

Lucky, lucky, guy! :shock:

 

[ramonmercado]

British man survives 15th floor fall in New Zealand
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22932001

Mr Stilwell fell from his building block, Volt Apartments in Auckland

A British man has survived a fall from the 15th floor of a building in New Zealand, local media report.

Tom Stilwell fell from his neighbour's balcony in his apartment block in Auckland at 02:00 local time on Sunday (14:00 GMT on Saturday), reports said.

He was trying to lower himself onto his balcony, which was directly below his neighbour's, when he fell, police said.

His friends said that he had bone fractures and internal injuries, but was "fine" and "a very lucky man".

He was awake and laughing on Monday, but had no recollection of what happened, his friends told New Zealand newsgroup Fairfax Media.

"He looks alright," his flatmate, Beth Goodwin, said. "It's more internal injuries. He's broken some bones in his ribs and neck but they're not important bones."

Continue reading the main story
More survivors of spectacular falls

"The odds may be against it, but others have lived after even more dramatic plummets.

"Juliane Koepcke, 17, was flying over the Peruvian rainforest with her mother when her plane was hit by lightning. But she survived a two-mile (3.2km) fall.

"In January 1972, 22-year-old Yugoslav flight attendant Vesna Vulovic's plane exploded following a suspected terrorist bomb. The Guinness Book of Records recorded that Ms Vulovic plummeted 33,000ft (10,160m) before landing in snow."

Read more
In a statement, New Zealand police said: "It appears that the man was locked out of his 14th floor apartment. He fell while attempting to climb down the outside of the building from a 15th floor apartment directly above his, in an effort to gain access via his balcony."

There were "no suspicious circumstances surrounding the fall", the statement added.

'Tipsy but polite'
The 20-year-old is said to be in New Zealand on a working holiday.

Mr Stilwell discovered he was locked out of his flat early on Sunday, and asked a neighbour if he could climb down from her balcony into his flat, his friends said.

The neighbour, Geraldine Bautista, told the New Zealand Herald that Mr Stilwell was "a little tipsy" but polite.

"I wasn't scared of him - he just requested 'Can you please let me jump off from the balcony? I will not bother you, just let me use your balcony.'"

"I never thought he would really do that. In my mind I thought 'Okay, I'll just let you see that it's really impossible. I didn't think he'd jump, because it's really scary."

However, he quickly pulled himself over the balcony railing before she could stop him, she said.

"I thought I was dreaming... it happened within seconds," she said. "I couldn't even scream for help."

Mr Stilwell's fall was broken by the roof of an adjacent building, reportedly some 13 floors below.

He was taken to hospital in a critical condition, but was in a satisfactory condition by Monday, a hospital spokesperson said.

Dr Tony Smith, a medical director at St John, an emergency healthcare organisation, told the New Zealand Herald that a person's chances of survival were increased if they were able to break their fall on something.

However, "survival from falls of that height are extraordinarily unusual", he said.

In December 2007, New York window cleaner Alcides Moreno plummeted 47 floors when cables holding the platform he and his brother were working on failed. His brother died but Mr Moreno made a full recovery, something doctors attributed in part to his escaping major head injuries.

In June 2010 a four-year-old boy escaped with minor injuries after falling from the 17th floor of a hotel in Miami. Joey Williams, who bounced off palm trees as he fell to the 10th-floor pool area, was sitting up in bed by the next day.

 

[Cherrybomb]

Ugh, that one made my stomach flip. Lucky man.

 

[rynner2]

Romney Marsh crash driver rescued after 14 hours

A man who was trapped upside down in his car in a ditch filled with water for 14 hours has been rescued.
The 44-year-old driver came off the A2070 in Romney Marsh at about 02:00 BST on Tuesday, but was not discovered until nearly 16:00 BST that afternoon.
Kent Fire and Rescue were called to the scene by a lorry driver who had spotted the back wheels of the vehicle.

The man was trapped in an air pocket at the rear of the car, which was almost submerged in 4ft (1.2m) of water. :shock:
Watch manager Alan Brown said firefighters used hydraulic cutting equipment to release the hatchback door, and then winched the car partially up the bank before rescuing the man.

He was treated at the scene by paramedics and a doctor before being taken to the William Harvey Hospital, in Ashford, where he is currently in a stable condition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-23697669

 

[rynner2]

14 hours? That's nothing!

Uruguayan man survives freezing four-month Andes ordeal

A Uruguayan man who went missing in May while trying to cross the Andes mountains from Chile to Argentina has been found alive, officials say.
Raul Fernando Gomez Circunegui, 58, got lost in snowstorms after his motorbike broke down.
He was found in a mountain shelter at an altitude of more than 2,800m (9,300ft) by Argentine officials.
Mr Gomez survived by eating leftover supplies in the shelter and whatever else he could catch, including rats.

He has been taken to hospital in an emaciated and dehydrated state, but is expected to make a full recovery.
Argentine officials from the north-western province of San Juan stumbled across Mr Gomez after arriving in the area near the shelter by helicopter to record snow levels.
An enfeebled Mr Gomez was able to open the shelter's door and alert the crew to his presence.

"The truth is that this is a miracle. We still can't believe it," San Juan Governor Jose Luis Gioja told the local Diario de Cuyo newspaper.
"We let him talk to his wife, his mother and his daughter... I asked him: 'Are you a believer?' He told me, 'no, but now I am.'"

He is reported to have lost 20kg (44lb) during the ordeal and is dehydrated, according to media reports.
A doctor who examined him was surprised by his resilience, according to Uruguayan newspaper El Pais.
"He's a patient with high blood pressure, a history of smoking and signs of undernourishment," the doctor was quoted as saying. "But he's going to be fine and in a few days we're going to discharge him."

Members of a Uruguayan rugby team famously survived sub-zero Andean temperatures for 72 days in 1972 by eating the bodies of other plane crash victims.
They were travelling from Montevideo to Santiago to play against against a local team when their plane crashed.
Sixteen of the 45 passengers survived.
They were located after two passengers took a chance and left on a 10-day trek. They were spotted by a farmer who alerted the emergency services.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24013081