Buzz
There are some astonishing tales of survival, like that of Juliane Koepcke, the German-Peruvian woman who plummeted 10,000 feet from a plane over the Amazon, and the Uruguayan rugby team that turned to cannibalism to stay alive after their plane crashed in the Andes.
Yet, there are those who didn't just survive one, but several catastrophic events. Croatian Frane Selak emerged unscathed from seven different accidents, and Casimir Polemus, a Frenchman, is believed to have survived three shipwrecks in the 1800s, though these claims are difficult to verify.
The survival stories of the following ten individuals, however, are well-documented, and their experiences are as chilling as they are remarkable.
10. Stefan & Erika Svanström
When thinking of a honeymoon, survival isn't typically a word that comes to mind. But for Stefan & Erika Svanström from Sweden, disaster seemed to follow them on their honeymoon. In 2011, they embarked on a four-month journey with their baby daughter, Elinor, visiting countries like Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and China.
They could have been forgiven for considering their honeymoon's low point to be when a bus roof was torn off during a monsoon in Indonesia. However, this was just one of a series of dangerous events that threatened their lives.
In Australia, they endured a bushfire in Perth and a cyclone in Cairns. In New Zealand, they were lucky to be rerouted, avoiding an earthquake in Christchurch, only to find themselves in Tokyo when the earthquake and tsunami struck Tōhoku on March 11, 2011. Mr. Svanström also claims to have survived the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia.
9. Gabriella Coane
While many people survive hurricanes, few can say they've survived two before turning a month old! Little Gabriella Coane from Houston, Texas, was only days old when Hurricane Harvey struck the state. Despite the widespread destruction, their home remained largely undamaged. Concerned about water shortages, fires, and other post-hurricane issues, her parents decided to temporarily relocate to their second home in Miami, Florida, seeking more peace of mind with their newborn.
Just three days after reaching Miami, the Coane family had to evacuate once more as Hurricane Irma approached. After an 11-hour drive, they found refuge in a small-town hotel in Alabama, where they waited for the storm to pass. Unable to return to their Miami home due to a lack of water and electricity, the family traveled over 3,000 miles in less than a week, eventually arriving safely back in Texas. Gabriella earned the nickname 'Storm' after the ordeal.
8. Gerald Ford
On September 5, 1975, President Gerald Ford was targeted by an assassination attempt in Sacramento, California, when Lynette Fromme fired at him. The Secret Service quickly tackled her, and although the shot was fired, it missed. Fromme, a drug addict and follower of cult leader Charles Manson, allegedly attempted to kill the president to win favor with Manson.
Just seventeen days later, on September 22, 1975, another attempt on President Ford's life occurred when Sara Jane Moore, a former Marine, tried to shoot him as he was leaving a hotel in San Francisco, California.
Interestingly, both Fromme and Moore were sent to the same prisons in West Virginia. In 1979 and 1989, respectively, they both managed to escape, though they were quickly recaptured. Moore was released on parole in 2007, while Fromme was released in 2009.
7. Adrian Carton De Wiart
Sir Adrian Carton De Wiart, born to Belgian and Irish parents, earned the nickname 'the unkillable soldier.' He survived three wars—the Second Boer War, WWI, and WWII—losing an eye and a hand in the process. Despite being too young to join the Army, not a British subject, and lacking his father’s consent, De Wiart forged a new identity, pretended to be older, and set off for South Africa to fight in the Second Boer War. He was shot in the chest and sent home, only to return to the battlefield after recovering.
During WWI, De Wiart was injured eight times, and despite losing his left eye in Somaliland in 1914, he returned to the frontlines. In 1915, he endured gunshot wounds to his skull, ankle, hip, leg, and ear on the Western Front. In WWII, he served as a commanding officer, fortunately avoiding further amputations. However, at age 61, he had to survive a prisoner-of-war camp. In 1943, he became the British representative to China, a position he held until his retirement in 1946. Despite all the hardships, Carton de Wiart said in his autobiography: 'Frankly, I had enjoyed the war.'
Additionally, it is speculated that he might have been the illegitimate son of King Leopold II.
6. Wenman Wykeham-Musgrave
While patrolling the waters off the Dutch coast on September 22, 1914, HMS Aboukir, along with two other British cruisers, HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy, were spotted by the German U-9 submarine. The Aboukir was the first to be hit, and the Hogue began rescuing survivors.
A 15-year-old midshipman, Wenman 'Kit' Wykeham-Musgrave, swam for his life and was among the survivors pulled from the water by the Hogue. However, the U-boat struck the Hogue as well, forcing Kit into the water again. He reached the Cressy, but it was hit almost immediately after. Fortunately, Wykeham-Musgrave was rescued by a Dutch fishing boat, and several hundred other survivors were picked up by other boats. In one of the darkest chapters in British naval history, the young sailor survived three U-boat attacks within just 90 minutes!
5. Roy Sullivan
Roy Sullivan, a park ranger at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, earned the title of 'the person most struck by lightning' in Guinness World Records, having been hit by lightning an astonishing seven times! His first strike occurred in 1942, leaving him with only a toenail loss. The subsequent strikes came in 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976, and finally in 1977. His injuries included burns to his chest and other areas, and twice his hair was burned. On one occasion in 1970, his wife Pat was struck on their front porch. Sullivan's life ended on September 28, 1983, when he was tragically shot in the head.
Discover magazine included Sullivan in its 2008 list of unforgettable survivors, alongside a Soviet World War II pilot who leapt from his plane at 22,000 feet without a parachute, and a sailor who survived drifting at sea for 76 days.
The probability of the same person being struck by lightning seven times is an astronomical 4.15 in 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000…
4. Zahrul Fuadi
Few disasters are as horrifying as tsunamis, as evidenced by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that struck 14 countries on December 26, 2004, killing nearly 228,000 people. Being caught in a tsunami is a rare and terrifying experience, but surviving two is nothing short of miraculous!
Zahrul Fuadi was one such lucky individual who survived both the 2004 tsunami and the 2011 disaster. In December 2004, he fled the tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, believing it to be the end of the world. Grateful for his survival, he moved to Japan as a doctoral student, only to be caught once again by disaster on March 11, 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami struck Tōhoku. This time, the devastation claimed 16,000 lives and triggered a nuclear crisis, but Fuadi managed to escape with only the loss of power and water at his home.
Fuadi wasn't the only one to survive two tsunamis. Another Indonesian, Rahmat Saiful Bahri, also survived the 2004 tsunami and the one that struck Sulawesi Island on September 28, 2018, following a magnitude 7.5 earthquake.
3. Tsutomu Yamaguchi
While disasters are always tragic and life-threatening, some are more terrifying than others. Among the most feared are nuclear explosions. It's hard to believe that anyone could survive one, yet over 150 people did, having survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings in August 1945. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was one such person.
Yamaguchi, who worked for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was in Hiroshima on August 6 when he witnessed the atomic blast. Though badly burned, he made his way through a river filled with bodies and managed to board a train to his hometown, Nagasaki. Once there, he was treated for his injuries and reunited with his wife and infant son. On August 9, he reported for duty, but his superiors didn’t believe his story of the events. While still in a meeting, Nagasaki was bombed. Yamaguchi lived until the age of 93, dying of stomach cancer. His wife also passed away from cancer, as did his son at the age of 58.
2. Violet Jessop
Violet Jessop, the only female survivor on this list, was a stewardess aboard the RMS Olympic. Born to Irish immigrants in Argentina, Violet’s family moved to England after her father's death, where her mother worked as a stewardess on the Royal Mail Line. After her mother fell ill, Violet took up the same profession, eventually joining the White Star Line and the HMS Olympic. In 1911, the Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke, marking the first of three shipwrecks Violet would survive in her lifetime, during which she completed over 200 voyages.
Violet Jessop was initially hesitant to join the HMS Titanic, but her friends eventually convinced her. On the Titanic's maiden voyage, Violet found herself caught in her second shipwreck. She was safely transferred to a lifeboat and eventually returned to the Olympic. In 1916, while serving as a nurse during WWI, she joined the HMS Britannic, which struck a deep-sea mine and sank in the Aegean Sea. To escape the sinking ship's propellers, Violet had to leap from her lifeboat, which caused her to suffer a fractured skull. Known as 'Miss Unsinkable,' she continued her career with the White Star Line and lived to be 83.
1. Wendall A. Phillips
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Wendall A. Phillips was a radio operator for the U.S. Air Transport Command during WWII, operating from bases in England. Incredibly, he survived five separate plane crashes. In late 1944, after his final crash, he and his crew were captured by the Germans and sent to a POW camp in Belgium. After 33 days, Phillips and two fellow prisoners managed to escape through a hole in the electric fence. They spent three days on the run before French resistance fighters helped them reconnect with American forces.
Phillips was reassigned to the China-India-Burma Theater, where he was tasked with delivering supplies to the forces fighting the Japanese. During this time, his crew suffered another plane crash, and Phillips found himself a POW once more. Under the Japanese captors, he endured brutal torture, including the loss of his fingernails as they tried to extract information from him. He was finally released when Japan surrendered in 1945.
