Buzz
While a fall from 15 to 18 meters (50 to 60 feet) is fatal for most, what if someone were to fall from heights 10 or even 100 times that? Several individuals have survived such falls. Many owe their survival to pure luck, and some of these stories continue to puzzle scientists. Regardless, these incredible tales will make you believe in the possibility of miracles.
10. Chris Saggers - 67 Meters (220 Ft)
Being a window washer on a skyscraper requires nerves of steel. Chris Saggers was one such window washer working on the Salford Tower Blocks in the UK when disaster struck. Saggers was on the 22nd floor when he suddenly fell off his scaffold. What makes his story miraculous isn't just that he survived the deadly drop, but that when he hit the ground, he stood up, dusted himself off, and calmly stated, 'I’m fine.' After a medical check, it was found that he only had a broken elbow. He was fortunate enough to land on a car roof instead of the unforgiving pavement, yet walking away from such a fall is nothing short of remarkable.
9. Josh Hanson - 50 Meters (160 Ft)
In 2007, Josh Hanson attended a dart-throwing convention at a hotel in Minneapolis when he and his friends decided to have a little fun. After a few beers and a night of darts, Josh and his buddies headed back to the hotel. When the elevator stopped at the 17th floor, Hanson thought it’d be a great idea to sprint down the hallway of the Hyatt Regency, only to trip and fall through a window. Though the window was double-paned and had a safety bar, it couldn’t withstand the force of the 300-pound linebacker. After falling nearly 50 meters (160 feet), he crashed onto a first-floor ledge made of asphalt, which likely offered a better landing than the concrete sidewalk below. Miraculously, he survived, sustaining only a broken leg, two collapsed lungs, and some bruises. He didn’t win the dart tournament, but he was fortunate enough to go home alive. Thanks to the alcohol in his system, he claims he doesn’t remember the fall at all.
8. Juliane Diller - 3 Kilometers (10,000 Ft)
Diller’s survival story goes beyond the incredible fall to Earth. On Christmas Eve 1971, Diller and her mother were aboard LANSA Flight 508 over Peru when the plane was struck by a severe thunderstorm, causing it to disintegrate and sending Diller plummeting into the Peruvian rain forest. Strapped to her seat, the 17-year-old suffered only a broken collarbone, a deep cut on her arm, and a swollen eye. She quickly unbuckled herself and began searching for her mother. Realizing that her only chance for survival was to find civilization, Diller set off in search of a water source her father had once mentioned. She followed the river for 10 days, enduring worsening injuries and sleepless nights plagued by bugs. Eventually, she discovered a boat and gasoline can, which she used to remove the 35 maggots from her arm. She stayed near the boat for another 10 hours before being found, as she didn’t believe it was right to simply take it.
7. Shayna Richardson - 3 Kilometers (10,000 Ft)
Shayna Richardson, an amateur skydiver, was taking a free-fall course with her boyfriend, Rick West. In October 2005, she was ready for her first solo jump from 3 kilometers (10,000 feet), reaching speeds of up to 80 kph (50 mph). Unfortunately, when she deployed her main parachute, it failed to open fully, forcing her to cut it away and release her reserve. But the reserve also malfunctioned, sending her into a deadly spin. To everyone’s shock, Richardson crashed face-first into the asphalt. She was rushed to the hospital with a shattered skull and pelvis. Even more miraculous than surviving the fall was the discovery that she was pregnant. The baby had survived the fall and both mother and child went on to make a full recovery.
6. Michael Holmes - 4.3 Kilometers (14,000 Ft)
After seven years of skydiving experience, Michael Holmes became the youngest person ever to earn certification as a skydiving instructor. In December 2006, Holmes was preparing for a routine jump when disaster struck. As he leaped from the plane, reaching speeds of about 160 kph (100 mph), his main parachute failed to deploy. It was later discovered that the failure occurred because the rope had become severely tangled in his bag. To make matters worse, the tangle prevented him from cutting away the parachute and deploying his reserve, leaving him helpless as he fell towards the Earth. He fought to untangle the rope during his descent and eventually managed to cut away the main chute, but still couldn't deploy his reserve.
After plummeting more than four kilometers, Holmes crashed into a small blackberry bush, which ultimately saved his life. He suffered a punctured lung and a shattered ankle, which was remarkably mild considering he would likely have died without the bush to cushion his fall. At the time of the incident, Holmes was filming his jump, capturing the entire terrifying ordeal on video. One of the most haunting moments occurs when Holmes realizes he cannot save himself and simply says, 'I’m dead. Bye.'
5. Danny Yamashiro - 122 Meters (400 Ft)
On December 22, 1985, Danny Yamashiro's day began like any other when he and his girlfriend decided to climb Nuuanu Pali in Hawaii. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse when his girlfriend became stranded, and he made a heroic attempt to rescue her. Tragically, the 18-year-old lost his footing and fell 91 meters (300 feet) down the mountain, crashing headfirst into a rock ledge. Despite suffering severe injuries, Yamashiro fought to stay alive while rescue workers worked to reach him. As the rescuers descended, Yamashiro shifted his weight on the ledge, causing him to fall an additional 30 meters (100 feet).
Although he survived both falls and made a full recovery—leading to a successful career in televangelism—Danny Yamashiro was not unscathed by the ordeal. He endured several life-threatening injuries, including a fractured skull and ankle, numerous deep cuts to his head and body, brain and organ damage, and even slipped into a coma following the fall. He credits his survival to his strong will to live and his faith, which ultimately propelled him to become a motivational speaker, author, and minister.
4. Roger Woodward - 50 Meters (165 ft)
Although Kirk Jones was the first person to go over Niagara Falls, Roger Woodward is remembered as the youngest person to take the plunge unprotected and survive. His fall was accidental when he and his sister, Deanne, were thrown from a boat on the upper Niagara River during a family outing with their uncle, James Honeycutt. The boat ride turned disastrous when the small aluminum boat’s motor failed, and the current soon pushed them toward the falls. The boat capsized, tossing Deanne, Roger, and James into the turbulent waters.
Thankfully, a few men on the shore managed to grab Deanne before she could go over the falls, but Roger and James were not as fortunate. Both were swept over Horseshoe Falls into the raging rapids and rocks below. While James did not survive, Roger miraculously emerged uninjured, suffering only mild shock. Wearing a life jacket at the time, he was rescued by the Maid of the Mist, a boat operating at the base of the falls. What makes this story even more remarkable is that Roger was only seven years old at the time. He has since developed a passion for boating—although he does his best to avoid massive waterfalls.
3. James Boole - 1.8 Kilometers (6,000 Ft)
James Boole, a skilled skydiver with over 2,000 jumps, was in Russia’s Kamchatka mountains in 2009, filming a documentary about another skydiver. The plan was for the man he was filming with to signal Boole to open his parachute at around 200 meters (656 ft) above the ground. However, the signal never came, and Boole, too focused on filming, didn't realize until he was just 20 meters (65 ft) from hitting the ground. In a desperate move, he deployed his parachute, but it did little to slow his descent. Upon impact, he created a crater over a meter deep in the snow and lost consciousness. It took over an hour for him to receive treatment for a severely broken back, ribs, and a damaged lung. Despite his injuries, he recovered fully and even planned to return to skydiving.
2. Steve Fossett - 6.7 Kilometers (22,000 Ft)
Steve Fossett is best known as the first person to travel around the world nonstop in a hot air balloon. However, another incredible survival story of his involves a 6.7-kilometer (22,000 ft) fall without injury. In 1998, while attempting his fourth nonstop circumnavigation in his hot air balloon, the Solo Spirit, a storm over the Coral Sea severely damaged his balloon, causing it to rapidly descend toward the ocean. Expecting the worst, Fossett crashed into the water but emerged completely unscathed, though his capsule caught fire. He managed to escape in a life raft and spent 10 hours stranded in the open ocean surrounded by sharks, before finally being rescued.
1. Felix Baumgartner ascended 39 kilometers (128,000 feet) into the sky.
What makes Felix Baumgartner’s plunge remarkable is not the landing (thanks to his parachute), but rather the extreme physical effects on his body during the fall. In 2012, he made history as the first person to break the sound barrier unaided, using only his own power. His 39-kilometer descent shattered the previous record set by Joe Kittinger, reaching speeds up to 1,342 km/h (834 mph). Baumgartner’s body endured intense forces once he reached the stratosphere, entering a perilous flat spin. This deadly phenomenon, caused by centripetal force, has been fatal to many, as it sends blood rushing to the brain.
Baumgartner's descent from space to the ground in New Mexico took four minutes. Remarkably, he stayed conscious throughout the fall, avoiding one of the many dangers that come with such a leap. Had he lost consciousness, the flat spin would have likely proven fatal. After his historic jump, the famed daredevil retired and shared that he didn’t actually enjoy breaking the record.
