Buzz
The sun is shining brightly, and the day feels perfect. You decide to take a short hike to fully soak in the warmth of the day. There's a secret spot you know that remains hidden from most. You pack lightly since you're not planning to stay long—just a couple of water bottles, some snacks, your phone, and an MP3 player—before heading to your isolated destination.
Time flies as you relish the moment, and soon it's nearly dusk. You realize it's time to head back, but along the way, you trip and tumble down a 50-foot cliff, ending up with a broken leg and unable to move.
You attempt to call for help using your phone, but there’s no signal. Your water and food are running low, and survival seems unlikely. What will you do? How much do you want to live?
10. Yossi Ghinsberg
“The most difficult moment came after a few days, when I realized that I was entirely on my own.”
Yossi Ghinsberg, along with three other men, journeyed into the Amazon jungle to search for a hidden tribe. The environment proved to be unforgiving, and tensions began to rise within the group. Eventually, the group disbanded. Ghinsberg stayed with Kevin, while Marcus and Karl remained together. Ghinsberg and Kevin took a raft but lost control as they approached a massive waterfall. Kevin managed to reach the shore, but Ghinsberg was carried downstream and over the waterfall, narrowly escaping death by drowning.
The following 19 days were filled with numerous challenges for Ghinsberg. He survived a late-night encounter with a jaguar by setting fire to an insect repellent spray, using it like a flamethrower. Swarms of termites feasted on his skin and clothing after he urinated on himself due to exhaustion. He survived by eating fruit and raw eggs from chicken nests in the jungle. He narrowly avoided drowning in a flood and came close to sinking in a bog.
Eventually, Ghinsberg was located by Kevin, who had organized a search party with the locals. Marcus and Karl were never found.
9. Steven Callahan
“Out at sea, I am reminded of my own insignificance – of the insignificance of all men. It’s a humbling experience, a wonderful one.”
Steven Callahan set sail from the Canary Islands in a small boat he had built himself. Six days into his journey, the boat sank after colliding with an unknown object at night. He later speculated that the object could have been a whale. After the crash, he escaped to a six-foot-wide life raft.
He survived until his rescue 76 days later. Throughout this time, he faced sharks, sunburn, punctured rafts, physical weakness, and mental torment. To stay alive, he speared fish, caught birds, and harvested barnacles. Over the course of his ordeal, he lost a third of his body weight. Even after his raft developed a leak, he managed to keep it afloat for 33 days until he was rescued.
8. Colby Coombs
“I just had to focus and push through the pain.”
In June 1992, Colby Coombs and two friends attempted to climb Alaska’s 17,240-foot Mt. Foraker. During their ascent, an avalanche struck, trapping the three of them. They were forced to descend 800 feet down the mountain and crash into a snow river. Unfortunately, Coombs' friends did not survive the ordeal.
Coombs sustained a concussion, a broken ankle, two fractured vertebrae in his neck, and a shattered shoulder blade. Over the next six days, he fought through tremendous pain. He made his way down the mountain, followed by a five-mile trek across a glacier until he eventually reached a camp. He continues to climb to this day.
7. Eric Le Marque
“I remember collapsing into the snow, staring at my feet and thinking, ‘You’re going to lose your feet.’”
Eric Le Marque, a member of France’s Olympic hockey team, was stranded for seven days in the Sierra Nevada wilderness. A passionate snowboarder, he was riding at California’s Mammoth Mountain when a blizzard threw him off course. Unable to find his way back before nightfall, he spent the night in the woods and tried to find his way the next day, only to wander deeper into the forest.
With limited supplies, just an MP3 player, his snowboard, and his clothes, he survived on pine nuts and tree bark. For water, he melted snow and drank from rivers. He used his snowboard to dig shelter in the snow. He became hypothermic and his frostbitten feet turned black and purple. After falling into rushing water, he nearly plunged over an 80-foot waterfall. Remarkably, Le Marque managed to use his MP3 player to pick up a radio signal, which he used as a compass. Due to severe tissue damage in his legs, most of his lower limbs had to be amputated.
6. Tami Oldham Ashcraft
“When the wind is howling that fiercely, it’s picking up spray from the waves, so thick you can hardly see anything. It’s like being in a snowstorm.”
In 1983, Tami Oldham Ashcraft and her boyfriend, Richard Sharp, were sailing a 44-foot boat from Tahiti to San Diego when disaster struck. They were caught in the path of a category four hurricane, with 50-foot waves and winds gusting over 160 miles per hour. The boat capsized, and Ashcraft was knocked unconscious below deck. She woke up 27 hours later to find that Sharp was missing.
Left alone at sea and grieving her lost boyfriend, Ashcraft’s survival seemed uncertain. However, she refused to give up. Using celestial navigation, she charted a course to Hawaii, 1,500 miles away. She carefully rationed her food and crafted a mast and sail from what little she had. After 41 days at sea, she finally reached Hilo Harbor.
5. Ricky Megee
“If you ever find yourself needing to drink urine, I recommend you let it cool first. It doesn’t have a pleasant taste.”
Ricky Megee stopped to assist a couple whose car had broken down, only to wake up to find himself buried under rocks and dirt. The pit he was in was meant to be his grave. He claims to have been drugged and robbed by the couple. For the next two months, he endured exposure and severe malnutrition, surviving on leeches, lizards, insects, frogs, and snakes. When fresh water was scarce, he had no choice but to drink his own urine. Weighing 230 pounds before the ordeal, he was only 105 pounds when rescued. The man who found him described him as little more than a walking skeleton.
4. Aron Ralston
“Based on how much I've deteriorated in the past 24 hours, I’d be shocked if I survive until Tuesday.”
Could you survive by amputating your own arm with a dull knife? Aron Ralston did just that. On May 1, 2003, a massive 800-pound boulder pinned his arm against a canyon wall in Utah.
After five days of being trapped with limited food and water, Ralston took extreme measures to free himself. He used the boulder to break his bones and then painstakingly used a two-inch dull pocket knife to sever the tendons and muscles in his arm. The process took about an hour. Once freed, he rappelled down a 65-foot cliff with one arm and walked in the scorching midday sun back to his car. Along the way, he was found by a family who gave him water while rescuers were on the way.
A movie called '127 Hours' was made about his experience, and I highly recommend watching it.
3. Kootoo Shaw
“I genuinely thought I was going to die. I believed I was finished.”
Kootoo Shaw, working as a hunting guide, was assisting a group of hunters from Wisconsin on a trip. On the third day of their hunt, Shaw was asleep in his tent when a polar bear attacked him around 4:00 a.m.
“He had his claws under my neck for a while, and I could hear his breathing. Then, he pulled his claws away but continued to jump on top of me, leaping up and down four times,” Shaw recalled. Another hunter shot and killed the bear. Shaw endured severe injuries, including numerous slashes and bites, and required almost 300 stitches to repair his scalp.
2. James Morrow
“I think my head was so deep inside its throat that I could feel its taste buds.”
James Morrow, 45 years old, found himself in an unimaginable situation – inside the jaws of a ravenous alligator. While snorkeling in Florida’s Juniper Run, Morrow was adjusting his snorkel when an alligator suddenly latched onto his throat, shaking him violently for 10 to 20 seconds before letting go. His friends eventually helped him aboard a boat.
The alligator’s powerful bite punctured Morrow’s chest and collapsed one of his lungs. His head still shows visible dents, and bite marks remain on his neck. During the attack, all he could do was punch the alligator in the throat. Fortunately, his snorkeling mask prevented further injury, saving him from more severe damage, like a punctured eye.
1. Bethany Hamilton
“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, resilience, heart, talent, grit. These are the qualities that make little girls strong – forget sugar and spice.”
In November 2003, 13-year-old competitive surfer Bethany Hamilton was at Makua Beach in Hawaii, enjoying the waves. While lying on her board with her arms dangling in the water, a 12-15 foot tiger shark attacked. The shark severed her left arm just below the shoulder.
Instead of succumbing to fear and the risk of drowning, Hamilton used her remaining arm to paddle over to her friends. She even had the presence of mind to warn others in the water by shouting about the shark. Her friends helped her to the shore, and she was rushed to the hospital. Remarkably, Hamilton was back on her board and surfing again just one month later.
