All Survival & Endurance Dispatches
True stories from this anchor.
Trapped by a Boulder in a Canyon Five Days Alone
Aron Ralston entered a narrow Utah canyon alone in April 2003. Five days later, with his right arm pinned beneath an enormous boulder, he used a small multitool to free himself.
Left for Dead on Mount Everest and Walking Back Down
Beck Weathers survived a night exposed on Mount Everest during the 1996 disaster. Believed dead after severe cold and hypothermia, he regained consciousness and walked into Camp 4 before rescuers helped him descend.
Navigating Fifteen Hundred Miles Across Open Ocean
Tami Oldham Ashcraft survived alone at sea after a hurricane destroyed her yacht. Injured and without a working engine, she navigated toward Hawaii across roughly 1,500 miles of open ocean.
Four Hundred Days Drifting Across the Pacific Ocean
José Salvador Alvarenga left the Mexican coast on a fishing trip and spent 438 days adrift after a storm disabled his boat. He survived on fish, birds, turtles and rainwater before reaching the Marshall Islands.
Seventy Six Days Floating Across the Sea on a Raft
Steven Callahan spent 76 days alone on a six-foot inflatable raft after his sloop was badly damaged in the Atlantic. He made fresh water, caught fish and drifted about 1,800 miles before fishermen found him.
Trapped Seventy Two Hours Under Water in a Sunken Boat
Harrison Okene was inside the Jascon-4 when the tugboat capsized off Nigeria. He found an air pocket inside the wreck and spent nearly three days underwater before divers reached him.
Nine Days Lost in the Sahara Desert Inside a Shrine
Mauro Prosperi disappeared during the 1994 Marathon des Sables after a sandstorm erased his route. He spent several days sheltering in an abandoned shrine before walking across the Sahara into Algeria.
Falling Two Miles From a Plane and Walking Out Alive
Juliane Koepcke was 17 when lightning struck the plane carrying her across Peru. She fell thousands of metres into the Amazon rainforest, survived the impact and spent 11 days alone before reaching people.
He Was Deaf. Getting to the Nigerian Bar Took More Than a Law Degree
Nehemiah Danjuma was offered a different course when he first sought to study Law. He reapplied, graduated with a Second Class Upper and later became the first deaf lawyer from Northern Nigeria.
The Invisible Shipwreck
A boat left Bufaloto in The Gambia carrying people bound for Spain. After nearly 25 days stranded in the Atlantic, 38 survivors reached Mauritania while 143 people from the vessel were reported dead or missing.
He Jumped Off a Mountain to Escape
Matt Scott was 19 when armed men seized eight foreign tourists in northern Colombia. About 11 hours later, he went over a mountain ridge and spent nearly two weeks alone in the jungle before Kogui people and Colombian soldiers helped him out.
She Cleaned Boko Haram Guns Before Escaping Sambisa
Maryam Ibrahim was among about 50 women taken from Madagali towards Sambisa Forest. In captivity, she cleaned guns and arranged ammunition before one day pretending to fetch water and running for her life.
I Drank Water from Pitcher Plants to Survive
Jaslinda Saludin became separated from a hiking group near Gunung Batu Putih in Perak, Malaysia, and spent 14 days alone in the forest. She survived by drinking water from natural sources, including pitcher plants, before an Orang Asli villager found her.
The Hand-Carved Air Pocket
Patrik Jagunić was buried beneath about five feet of snow in Norway. With only a small air pocket, he scraped away snow until he could reach his phone and call for help.
13-Year-Old Carried Her Baby Sister Through the Amazon
After a plane crash killed their mother, 13-year-old Lesly Mucutuy helped her three younger siblings survive 40 days in the Colombian Amazon.
The Sailor Who Licked Water from a Bag
Kai Sato was sailing alone from California towards Hawaii when his mast broke. After his fuel and fresh water ran out, he made an improvised sail and collected condensation from seawater with plastic bags.
The 38-Hour Float in Shark-Infested Water
Kim and Nathan Maker were swept away from their dive boat during a storm off the Texas coast and spent about 38 hours in the Gulf of Mexico before a Coast Guard aircraft spotted their flashlight signal.
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