Our human grit takes us a lot further than many people realize and especially when everything goes wrong. Here are eleven incredible true stories of people who faced the most extreme situations—but lived to tell the tale. Each story is proof of what sheer determination & a bit of luck can do! Really, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
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Aron Ralston’s Harrowing Escape
In 2003, climber Aron Ralston was exploring Utah’s remote Bluejohn Canyon alone when an 800-pound boulder shifted & trapped his right arm against the canyon wall. Nobody knew where he was & his supplies were running out. After five excruciating days of trying to free himself, he decided to amputate his own arm using a dull multitool. It worked—and he was rescued. His unbelievable story was later turned into the movie “127 Hours.”
Juliane Koepcke’s Survival in the Amazon
In 1971, 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke was flying over the Peruvian rainforest when her plane was struck by lightning during a fierce storm. The aircraft broke apart mid-air—and she plummeted two miles to the ground while still strapped to her seat. Incredibly, she survived! Juliane used survival skills her biologist parents had taught her to survive for eleven days, which is when she found help.
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Steven Callahan’s 76 Days Adrift
Sailor Steven Callahan set off on a solo Atlantic crossing in 1981 but disaster struck when his small sailboat sank. He was left with only a rubber life raft & a few supplies yet that didn’t stop him—Callahan survived for 76 days by fishing with improvised spears & collecting rainwater. He also had to deal with sharks. Eventually, he drifted over 1,800 miles. Fishermen near the Caribbean island of Marie-Galante found him & brought him to safety.
The Andes Plane Crash Survivors
In October 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and their loved ones crashed into the Andes Mountains. Only 16 out of 45 people on board survived. After some time, they had eaten all their food & made the desperate decision to eat the bodies of those who had died in the crash to stay alive. Two of the survivors later went through the mountains for ten days without proper gear to get help.
Joe Simpson’s Miraculous Return
Mountaineer Joe Simpson and his climbing partner Simon Yates were descending Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985 when things took a turn for the worse. Joe fell and broke his leg badly, going over a cliff edge & hanging in mid-air. Unable to pull him up, Simon had to cut the rope to save himself and he sent Joe into a deep crevasse. Miraculously, Joe survived the fall! He spent three brutal days crawling back to base camp, arriving just as Simon was preparing to leave.
Hugh Glass’s Grit in the Wilderness
In 1823, fur trapper Hugh Glass was viciously attacked by a grizzly bear protecting her cubs. Sadly, his companions left him behind because they assumed he wouldn’t make it—but Hugh wasn’t ready to die. With a broken leg, a ripped scalp & deep claw wounds, he began a grueling crawl over 200 miles toward the nearest American settlement at Fort Kiowa. He got there after 6 weeks. In 2015, Glass’s amazing story was made into the film “The Revenant” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Harrison Okene’s Underwater Ordeal
Harrison Okene was onboard a tugboat in 2013 when it capsized during heavy swells and he was left trapped in a small bathroom pocket with limited air. He survived for almost three days at the bottom of the ocean in pitch-black darkness, with only a bottle of Coca-Cola to sip. Later, rescue divers came searching for bodies. As you might expect, they were shocked when they found him alive! Okene didn’t let his tragedy control him and he now works as a diver.
Poon Lim’s Record at Sea
During World War II, Chinese sailor Poon Lim was alone on a wooden raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean after his ship was attacked. For an incredible 133 days, he survived by catching fish & seabirds using improvised tools he made from garbage. Lim even fought off sharks! He was later rescued by Brazilian fishermen.
Vesna Vulović’s Incredible Fall
Flight attendant Vesna Vulović holds the world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. In 1972, a suspected bomb exploded on the JAT Flight 367 and Vulović was trapped by a food cart in the tail section. Somehow, it landed on a snowy slope & among trees which softened the impact. Vulović was injured but ultimately made a full recovery.
Tami Oldham Ashcraft’s Solo Journey
In 1983, Tami Oldham Ashcraft & her fiancé Richard Sharp accidentally sailed into Hurricane Raymond—a Category 4 storm. The hurricane capsized their boat, killing Richard and leaving Tami alone. But despite that, she managed to rig a makeshift sail and sailed over 1,500 miles for 41 days at sea. Finally, she reached Hilo, Hawaii.
Anatoli Bugorski’s Brush with a Proton Beam
Russian scientist Anatoli Bugorski experienced a one-of-a-kind accident in 1978 when he accidentally stuck his head into a running particle accelerator at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino. He received a massive dose of radiation that was well beyond what was considered lethal. But he survived!
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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