Incredible human survival stories. Incredible stories of people who survived in extreme conditions

The story of the most amazing cases in history, when people managed to survive despite the fact that it is absolutely impossible to escape in such a situation.

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People fell out of the plane without a parachute, fell from a height of several kilometers, and at the same time remained alive. You say that this is impossible? See for yourself. The most amazing cases of people surviving during accidents and malfunctions in the sky.

Captain behind the windshield


25 years ago, on June 10, 1990, Tim Lancaster, captain of a BAC 1-11 Series 528FL airliner, survived an extended stay outside his aircraft at an altitude of about 5,000 meters.

Wearing a seat belt is important not only for motorists: the commander of the British Airways BAC 1-11 aircraft, Tim Lancaster, certainly remembered this elementary safety rule forever after June 10, 1990.

While flying the plane at an altitude of 5273 meters, Tim Lancaster relaxed his seat belt. Shortly thereafter, the windshield of the airliner burst. The captain immediately flew out through the opening, and he was pressed with his back to the fuselage of the aircraft from the outside.

Lancaster's legs got stuck between the helm and control panel, and the cockpit door torn off by the air current landed on the radio and navigation panel, shattering it.

Flight attendant Nigel Ogden, who was in the cockpit, did not lose his head and firmly grabbed the captain's legs. The co-pilot was able to land the plane only after 22 minutes, all this time the captain of the aircraft was outside.

The flight attendant holding Lancaster believed that he was dead, but did not let go, as he was afraid that the body would get into the engine and it would burn out, reducing the chances of the liner for a safe landing.

After landing, it turned out that Tim was alive, the doctors diagnosed him with bruises, as well as fractures. right hand, finger on the left hand and right wrist. Five months later, Lancaster again sat at the helm.

Steward Nigel Ogden escaped with a dislocated shoulder, frostbite on his face and left eye.

Wing mechanic


When on May 27, 1995, during tactical maneuvers, the MiG-17 got stuck in the mud after leaving the runway, ground service mechanic Pyotr Gorbanev and his comrades rushed to the rescue.

Together, the plane was pushed onto the GDP. Freed from the mud, the MiG began to quickly pick up speed and a minute later soared into the air, "grabbing" the mechanic, who was bent around the front of the wing by the air flow.

Gaining altitude, the fighter pilot felt that the car was behaving strangely. Looking around, he saw on the wing foreign object. The flight took place at night, and therefore it was not possible to consider it. It was advised to shake off the “foreign object” from the ground by maneuvering.

And at that moment, the silhouette on the wing seemed to the pilot very similar to a person, so he asked for permission to land. The fighter landed at 23:27, having spent about half an hour in the air.

All this time, Gorbanev spent in consciousness on the wing of the interceptor - he was firmly held by the oncoming air flow. After landing, it turned out that the mechanic got off with a strong fright and a fracture of two ribs.

Jump from 7 thousand meters without a parachute


In January 1942, navigator Ivan Chisov flew out to bombard German troops in the area of ​​Vyazma station. Their link was attacked by the Messerschmites, who soon knocked out Ivan's bomber. It was necessary to leave the burning plane, but the Germans finished off our pilots in the air, so Ivan decided to go down with a long jump.

However, when the time came to open the parachute, the navigator lost consciousness. As a result, he collapsed from a height of 7000 meters (according to other sources - from 7600) onto the slope of a huge snowdrift, and then slid along the snowy slope of the ravine for a long time.

When Chisov was found, he was conscious, but received several serious fractures. After recovery, Ivan became a teacher at the navigation school.

Do not get a single scratch by jumping from a height of 5 thousand meters


The unique case that happened to 21-year-old Sergeant Nicholas Stephen Alcaid on March 24, 1944 is officially documented.

During a raid on Germany, his bomber was set on fire by German fighters. It so happened that the flames destroyed Nicholas's parachute as well. Not wanting to die in the fire, the sergeant jumped out of the plane, believing that he would die faster this way.

From a height of 5500 meters, the guy collapsed onto pine branches, and then into soft snow and lost consciousness. When Alcade woke up, he noted with surprise that not a single bone was broken.

Looking at the stars above his head, the sergeant took out a cigarette and lit it. Soon the Gestapo discovered him. The Germans were so amazed by what had happened that they even gave him a certificate confirming this miraculous rescue.

Meeting with Paul McCartney after a successful fall from a height of 10 thousand meters

Man rose to the top of the evolutionary pyramid not only because he managed to get on his feet and learn how to harvest. The main thing that distinguishes him from other creatures is the awareness of impending death. Thanks to this, people can take care of safety in advance and make the right decisions in the most extreme situations.

Survival stories are terrifying and impressive at the same time. The awareness of death helped to make decisions that are contrary to common sense. But it was thanks to them that the heroes of our 7 stories were able to tell about their salvation.

Survive in the Sahara without water

Extreme marathons are a way to test your endurance in conditions that are difficult for a normal existence, even for those who have all the adaptations and an adequate supply of water and food. Mauro Prosperi participated in the Sand Marathon for the first time. The distance of 250 km ran through the desert.

The first stage of the foot race went according to plan. But one day there was a sandstorm. Mauro waited for her in the tent. When I got out of it, I saw that the landscape had changed beyond recognition. All participants had a compass and a map, but navigation without a starting point was unsuccessful. The athlete just started walking through the desert. The supply of water ran out and he peed into the bottle to save at least some grams of the liquid.

On the 3rd day he came to the tomb. It was protection from the sun and the sandy wind. Bats were hiding in the room. Mauro drank the blood of 20 individuals - this helped replenish the supply of fluid in the body. 2 planes did not notice the smoke of his flares, at that moment despair washed over him. The man cut his veins and fell asleep ... But in the morning he woke up alive and saw that the blood had simply coagulated. It was a "second wind" - he realized that death did not want to take him away.


Mauro Prosperi moved through the desert behind the clouds, which were only in the morning. During the day he rested, fed on the blood of lizards, chewed cacti. Oriented by animal excrement. On the 9th day I went to the oasis. There he was found by a tribe of Berbers. For 9 days of living in the desert, he lost 16 kg of weight, walked 300 km. The marathon runner managed to survive not only because of his excellent physical fitness:

  • clarity of thought and calmness helped to find sources of liquid;
  • knowledge of the characteristics of the desert - to avoid overheating and burns;
  • the athlete somehow activated forgotten and deeply hidden instincts in himself.

In glaciers on one leg

Joe Simpson was a member of the climbing team, which consisted of three people. He and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, set off together to the summit of Siula Grande, leaving Richard Hawkins at the camp.


There were only 15-20 meters to the top when Joe fell off a cliff and hit his foot on a rock ledge. The leg bone went through the knee joint and split the lower part of the tibia. A healthy partner began to organize the descent. Weather conditions and loose snow complicated this process.

A little less than 1 km of height remained before the camp, when they realized that there was a steep cliff below. Simpson hung over a cliff, under which there was a huge crack. Simon was in an equally dangerous position: loose snow dispersed under him and the risk of falling off along with a wounded partner increased. Simon waited an hour in the hope that Simpson would get to a safe position. But the rope remained taut. Simon cut it...

The loose snow cushioned Joe's fall. He had a choice - to wait for death or to take the insignificant chance that the situation left him. He started down the crack. 40 meters were covered in 5 hours, but there were 9 km ahead. With a painful shock, in an altered state of consciousness, Joe moved, surrendering to the will of the delusional voice that was heard in his head. The climber literally crawled to the camp, from which Simon and Richard were going to leave in a few hours.

Joe Simpson's survival was successful due to the following factors:

  • eating snow helped to maintain strength;
  • the climber chose, albeit insignificant, but a chance for life;
  • in a state of altered consciousness, basic instincts aimed at survival were activated.

Prisoner of the ocean

Many have heard of the movie Life of Pi, but few people know that most of the survival devices were invented in a real situation. Stephen Callahan is an experienced yachtsman, inventor of navigational instruments, yacht designer, who was recognized by the world through his 76-day drifting in a boat on the Atlantic Ocean.


Callahan went into a solo race in a sloop of his own design. One night there was a storm and his ship collided with a whale in the sea. The traveler managed to get into the lifeboat. After the storm subsided, he carried off his sinking sloop his minimum for survival - a watermaker, a supply of food, a flashlight and a guide to surviving in large waters.

During the drifting, 9 ships passed him, he was poisoned by the paint that peeled off the distiller, received sunburn of the 3rd degree, sharks attacked his boat and struggle with himself - madness and panic seized him more and more often.

Callahan's boat was thrown onto the island and a day later he was found by local fishermen. Stephen Callahan is not the only person who managed to survive in the captivity of the World Ocean, but his rescue is a real feat. Helped him:

  • professional experience;
  • ability to endure social isolation;
  • cold-blooded prioritization (for example, he endured the pain of ulcers, but kept drinking water for ingestion.
  • scurvy was saved by drinking the blood of fish and birds.

Reasons why people manage to survive in unrealistic conditions

  1. The choice of life. From that moment on, the subconscious starts a certain program to activate the ancient instincts. Disgust and fear go away, and in their place comes the ability to see and use all the chances that every moment of life presents.
  2. Body endurance. In the desert, in the mountains, on the water - everywhere these people fought with nature, having previously increased their physiological endurance threshold.
  3. Adaptability. Each of them accepted the terms environment and began his survival marathon with them in mind.

Thanks to these stories, we get not only the knowledge of how to be in an extreme situation, but also the fact that the price of life is so high that it is better to avoid such tests.

There are people who, thanks to luck and resourcefulness, defied nature and survived in the most difficult conditions. Here are their stories, which, although they seem incredible, are real.

1. Anna Bagenholm - revived after freezing

Anna Elisabeth Johansson Bågenholm is a radiologist who survived an accident in 1999 after spending 80 minutes in icy water under a layer of ice.

During this time, her body temperature dropped to 13.7°C, the lowest temperature that a person has survived hypothermia.

Anna was sliding down a steep slope, but lost control and fell headfirst into a frozen stream near a waterfall. The head and torso of the girl were under water under a 20-centimeter layer of ice, while her legs and skis remained above the ice.

Anna found an air pocket between ice and water and was able to breathe for 40 minutes. It took 80 minutes to rescue her from the water, and when they pulled her out, she showed no signs of life. After she was taken to the hospital, they tried to resuscitate the girl, and only after 3 hours her heart began to beat again.

She was alive and paralyzed, but gradually recovered. Doctors claim that she managed to survive due to the fact that her body fell into a state of "hibernation".

2 Mauro Prosperi Survived 9 Days In The Sahara Desert

Marathon runner Mauro Prosperi survived in the Sahara desert for more than a week without food or water. During a marathon in Morocco, a sandstorm caused him to lose his way and walk in the wrong direction for about 300 kilometers.

Mauro drank his urine to survive, walked only in the morning and evening, and rested during the day. He found a small chapel, caught some bats and drank their blood (meat). bat cause more dehydration).

The marathon runner even tried to commit suicide, wrote a note to his wife and cut his veins, but his blood thickened and coagulated.

This became a sign for the man, and he decided to continue on his way. 5 days after they left the chapel and 8 days of drinking almost nothing, he found a small oasis, and two days later Mauro was found by nomads who took him to a military camp and then to a hospital. During this time, he lost 18 kg of weight.

3. Vesna Vulovich - a flight attendant who survived a fall from a height of 10 thousand meters

Vesna Vulovich was not supposed to be on that flight, but because her name was confused with that of another flight attendant, she ended up on board. On January 26, 1972, a Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 flew from Copenhagen to Belgrade via Zagreb. There were 28 passengers and crew members on board. At an altitude of 10,160 meters, a bomb exploded in the luggage compartment of the aircraft. Presumably it was a terrorist attack.

The aircraft crashed and crashed in the mountains, killing 27 people. The only survivor was the stewardess Vesna Vulovich, who was in the tail of the plane.

The accident resulted in a fracture of the skull, legs, three vertebrae, one of which was crushed, due to which her body was paralyzed from the waist to the legs.

Vulović spent several months in the hospital, but after the operations she was able to walk again.

Her name was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the person who survived the longest fall without a parachute.

4. Frane Selak - seven accidents, one lottery win

Croatian music teacher Frane Selak is either very lucky or very unlucky. He survived seven accidents, and he always managed to avoid death.

His adventure began in January 1962, when Selak was on a train to Dubrovnik that derailed and fell into an icy river, killing 17 passengers. The man escaped with a broken arm, minor cuts and bruises.

A year later, while Selak was flying from Zagreb to Rijeka, the plane's door suddenly opened and the passengers were blown off the plane, killing 19 people. However, Selak landed on a haystack and woke up days later in the hospital with minor injuries.

In 1966, the 3rd accident happened when he was riding a bus that crashed and fell into the river. Four people died, but Selak managed to survive again.

In 1970, Selak was driving when suddenly his car caught fire. He managed to get out of the car before the gas tank exploded. Three years later, the man's other car caught fire again, causing him to lose most hair.

In 1995, Selak was in Zagreb when he was hit by a bus, but again the Croat escaped with only minor injuries. AT next year, while driving on a mountain road, he avoided a collision at the last moment when a truck was driving at him. The man jumped into a tree and was able to watch his car explode 90 meters below him.

In 2003, 81-year-old Selak won £600,000 in the lottery.

5. Roy Sullivan - 7 times struck by lightning

It is said that lightning never strikes the same place twice. However, the American forester Roy Sullivan was struck by lightning 7 times, and he was able to survive.

In 1942, the first lightning struck Sullivan's leg, causing the nail on his thumb to come off. In 1969, after a second lightning strike, his eyebrows were burned, and he lost consciousness.

In 1970, a third lightning bolt resulted in a shoulder injury. In 1972, a lightning strike set his hair on fire, and he knocked over a bucket of water on himself to cool off.

In August 1973, lightning ripped off his hat and struck him on the head, his hair caught fire again, he was thrown from a truck and his left shoe was blown off.

In June 19756, the sixth lightning strike resulted in an ankle injury, and in 1977 the last lightning strike resulted in a burn to the chest and abdomen. His wife was also struck by lightning once while hanging laundry in the yard. In September 1983, Roy Sullivan died at the age of 71, having committed suicide because of unrequited love.

6. Joe Simpson - fell into an ice crevice and got out for three days

Joe Simpson was one of two British climbers who climbed the 6344-meter peak of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.

The accident happened on the descent when Simpson broke his leg. His partner Simon Yates decided to tie his comrade to the cable, descending with him. But at some point, he had to cut the cable and Simpson fell down 30 meters into an ice crevice.

Surprisingly, Simpson survived the fall and crawled to the camp for three days.

Joe Simpson later wrote a book, Touching the Void, about his experience, which was made into a documentary.

7. Anatoly Bugorsky - survived after a particle accelerator beam passed through him

In 1978 Anatoly Bugorsky was a researcher at the Institute for High Energy Physics in Protvino, Moscow region. He worked with the largest Soviet particle accelerator, the U-70 proton synchrotron. On July 13, 1978, Bugorsky was checking out a faulty piece of equipment, and as he leaned towards it, a proton beam went through his head.

Bugorsky said that the flash was "brighter than a thousand suns," but he felt no pain. The radiation dose was 200,000 rad at the entrance and 300,000 rad at the exit. It was believed that a radiation dose of 500-600 rad could kill a person. Bugorsky was taken to a hospital in Moscow, where he was expected to die.

However, the scientist survived, and was even able to defend his dissertation. The incident did not affect his intellectual abilities, but he lost hearing in his left ear, and the left side of his face is motionless due to nerve damage. Bugorsky can work normally, but occasionally he has epileptic seizures.

People periodically fall into unusual situations. Sometimes this happens voluntarily when they go to the mountains, forests, remote, untraveled routes. Sometimes it happens unexpectedly - as a result of disasters or crimes.
But in any such situation, a person is faced with a choice - to quietly give up and die, or fear for his life and become the author of another story. survival in extreme situations.

1 Survive in the ice

Sir Ernest Shackleton led his group to conquer Antarctica in 1914. They began their journey on the Endurance. But soon the ship was covered with drifting ice, and the crew was forced to abandon it. After the death of the ship, there was no longer any talk of going to Antarctica, it was necessary to save the team,< выживать любой ценой.

Shackleton's group sailed in the ice for 2 years until they managed to get to Elephant Island in lifeboats. The team spent six months there, the main food at that time was whale oil and seal meat.

During this time, Shackleton continued his research with a group of five. They bypassed the island from the north, and then crossed the ocean to the island of South Georgia, passing about 1300 kilometers. For 36 hours, Shackleton and two other crew members explored the island, mapping it for the first time. Only three months later, the researchers reached the main group on Elephant Island.

But despite the most difficult conditions, hunger, cold, they survived. They won respect and pride in their journey.

2. Survive in the Amazonian jungle

In 1981, Yossi Ginsberg, along with three other Israelis, decided to go to the Amazon jungle in Bolivia. Very quickly, the companions got lost, in addition, they realized that their equipment was insufficient for such a journey. At this point, they decided to split into 2 teams and continue on their way separately. One pair was never found.

The second couple, which included Ginsberg and his friend Kevin, started down the river on a raft. But unsuccessfully - the raft crashed on the rocks and the partners lost each other. For 19 days, Ginsberg was left alone in the jungle. Kevin was more fortunate - he was picked up by local residents, and they also organized the search for Yossi. So friends managed to get out of the selva.

3. In the ice cave

Phil Dule and Mark Inglis in 1982, they began climbing Mount Cook (or Aoraki), the highest peak in New Zealand. During the ascent to the 3764 meter mountain, they were caught by a snow storm. The climbers quickly built an ice shelter from the snow and waited for the end of the storm.

But the rescuers managed to get to Phil and Mark only after 13 days. All this time the climbers spent in a small cave, eating croaker fish. The tightness of the cave and the cold, unfortunately, did not affect the guys in the best way. These factors led to a violation of blood circulation in the limbs, and the legs had to be amputated.

But the guys did not give up rock climbing. They nevertheless conquered Aoraki, and Inglis climbed Everest in 2006, becoming its first legless conqueror and having lost his fingertips from frostbite.

4. Hand or life

Sometimes you have to do surgery on yourself in order to survive. That's what happened to Aron Ralston. In 2003, while climbing a remote canyon in Utah, his hand was crushed by a 360 kg boulder. He spent 5 days trying to free himself, but when the water and food ran out, a drastic decision had to be made.

He broke the bones with a boulder, and then sawed through the muscles and tendons with a blunt penknife. After that, Ralston rappelled down a 65-foot cliff and was only found near the car by other hikers.

5. Mountain hike

Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes has a height of 6260 meters. After climbing to this peak, the adventure began Joe Simpson and Simon Yates.

Simpson was the first to go down, he slipped and broke his leg. While Yates was walking towards him, Simpson fell off the cliff, but kept on the edge. Sims spent a whole hour on a rope, Yates did not see or hear him. Then Simpson flew down. There are different versions of why this happened - perhaps the rope was cut by Yates, which saved both of their lives.

But as a result, Yates went down, and Simpson fell into a crevice. He managed to get out of there, despite the existing injuries. Then he got to the camp for three days, without food, water, painkillers.
He crawled to the base at night, where he met the already recovered Yates, who was planning the next stage of the route.

6. Lost in the Pacific

Tami Oldham Ashcraft with my boyfriend Richard Sharp planned to make a pleasant walk along the route Tahiti - San Diego within a month. They needed to move the 44-foot yacht "Khazan" to the dock. But on the 19th day they were hit by a magnitude 4 storm. It was the echo of Hurricane Raymond, which raised a wave of 50 feet. As a result, the yacht capsized. Ashcraft, who was below deck during the storm, lost consciousness.

She woke up three days later. By this point, Sharpe was dead, his lifebelt torn, mainmast broken. Fortunately, the sailboat returned to its normal position. Tami built a temporary mast, plotted a route to Hawaii, and sailed fifteen hundred miles with a minimum of food and water. After 40 days, she entered the harbor of Hilo, and then reached the port of destination.

7. Off the beaten path in Australia

Spring 2006 Mark Clifford found a six-foot thin man on his land. Although it would be more correct to call what appeared on a remote farm in northern Australia a real skeleton. It turned out to be Ricky Migi, who wandered in the wilderness for 10 weeks.

How he got lost is not exactly clear. According to Migi, his car broke down, there was another version that he was thrown out by a hitchhiker. In addition, Ricky himself used drugs according to the police. But the fact is that he got lost, spent some time somewhere in the wilderness by a dam on a diet of leeches, frogs and grasshoppers. And most importantly, he survived!

8. Crashed in the Andes

The history of the Uruguayan rugby team is known to many - it is described in books, feature and documentary films were made on it. In 1972, a plane with a crew of 45 people crashed in the mountains. In the first hours, 12 died, the next day another 5 died from injuries. Within a week, four more died, and eight were covered by an avalanche.

The last 16 people were fighting hunger and cold. They even had to eat the corpses of their comrades who had previously died from wounds in order to survive. Hope for the arrival of rescuers was rapidly fading, and then Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado left the mountain. They still managed to get to the people and bring help to their comrades.

All these people went for a light walk one fine day, but they did not know what a surprise fate had prepared for them. 10 most incredible stories of survival in the wild.

1. Yossi Ginsberg.
"The most difficult moment was when I realized that I was all alone."
Yossi, in the company of three comrades, went to the Amazon jungle in search of a mysterious tribe of Indians. The situation was quite tense and as a result, their group broke up. He stayed with Kevin while the other two, Markus and Carl, went the other way. While descending the river, Ginsberg lost control and their raft fell into a waterfall. Kevin managed to immediately swim ashore, and Ginsberg rushed along the will of the current for a long time, miraculously escaping death in a waterfall. The next 19 days were full of trials. One night Ginsberg was attacked by a jaguar, but he managed to scare him off thanks to the insect spray, which he set on fire. By the end of his journey, a colony of termites already lived on it, and he had to eat raw eggs and fruits. In the end, he was found by a search party of local residents.


2. Stephen Callahan.
"At sea, I always remember my own insignificance, the insignificance of all mankind. It is such a wonderful feeling to be humiliated."
Stephen Callahan sailed from the Canary Islands in a small boat that he built himself. She sank six days later after colliding with a whale at night. Stephen moved from the boat to a small raft. For 76 days he wandered the sea, survived a meeting with sharks, numerous sunburns, physical and mental suffering. He ate by hunting fish with a spear and catching birds and shellfish. He lost a third of his weight and was eventually saved.


3. Colby Coombs.
"I just kept my eyes open and ignoring the pain."
In June 1992, Colby Coombs and two of his friends climbed the 5304-meter Mount Foraker, Alaska. They were taken by surprise by a mountain avalanche that literally trapped them. Coombs and his friends were carried away by a snowy stream, only Colby himself survived. With a concussion, a broken ankle, two broken cervical vertebrae and a shoulder blade, he walked 5 miles across the glacier and 6 days after the terrible incident was already at his camp. Surprisingly, he did not give up his dangerous occupation.


4. Eric Le Marche.
"I remember falling into the snow and looking at my legs and thinking I was going to lose them."
Eric Le Marquet, a member of the French Olympic ice hockey team, was lost for 7 days in the Sierra Nevada desert. Being an avid snowboarder, he got into a snowstorm, which knocked him off the right track. He did not have time to find his way back before dark, every day he went deeper and deeper into unknown places. From the equipment he had only an mp3 player, he ate pine nuts and bark. Le Marche eventually managed to find a radio signal using an MP3 player, which he then used as a compass.


5. Tami Oldham Ashcraft.
In 1983, Tami Oldham Ashcraft and her boyfriend, Richard Sharp, sailed on a 13-meter sailboat from Tahiti towards San Diego. During the journey, they were caught in a Category 4 hurricane accompanied by 15-meter waves. Their boat capsized, and Tami herself was below deck. When, 27 hours later, she came back to herself, she discovered that Richard was gone. For 41 days she fought for survival, trying to swim to Hawaii.


6. Ricky Migi.
One fine day, Ricky stopped to help a couple whose car had broken down, followed by a blackout and Ricky woke up in a hole covered in rocks and dirt. For the next 2 months, he wandered in search of people, eating only leeches, lizards, insects and snakes. He was forced to drink urine, since all the puddles had dried up and no rain was expected. In the end, he was found and at that time he lost almost 2 times the weight.


7. Aron Ralston.
Would you be able to amputate your arm in order to survive? Aron could. When on May 1, 2003 a huge boulder crushed his hand and practically trapped him in one of the canyons of Utah. For 5 days, Aaron hoped for salvation, but after the food and water ran out, he decided on desperate measures. He used his 10 cm blunt knife to sever the muscles and tendons. The process itself took about an hour. Then, under the scorching rays of the midday sun, he wandered to his car. On the way there, he was met by his family, who also went in search of the missing person.


8. Bethany Hamilton
On the morning of November 2003, Bethany Hamilton went to Macau Beach, Hawaii to go surfing. While she was swimming on the board, a 15-meter tiger shark managed to grab her left hand. Instead of panicking, the girl swam up to her friends paddling good hand and managed to warn everyone in the water about the danger. After she was helped to get ashore, the girl was immediately taken to the hospital.


9. James Morrow.
45-year-old James Morrow managed to go where few people want to be - in the mouth of a crocodile. Morrow was diving off the coast of Florida when an alligator grabbed his throat and shook him violently for 15-20 seconds. Luckily, James was rescued by his friends passing by on a boat. The alligator managed to bite through one of the lungs, and traces of fangs remained on the entire head, chest and throat. Luckily, a snorkeling mask saved him from more serious facial injuries.


10. Kutu Shaw.
While working as a hunting guide, Kutu Shaw helped a group of Wisconsin hunters. On the third day of their journey, while Shaw was sleeping in a tent, a polar bear attacked him. Luckily for him, another hunter managed to kill the beast before it did it to Kutu. More than 300 wounds were later found on Shaw's head.