Resilience and Luck: The most resilient people in the world

People can survive a variety of threats, from a bullet wound or a terrible car accident to a seemingly fatal illness. The steadfastness of the soldiers of the First World War and the conditions they had to fight today do not fit into one’s head.

However, all this pales compared to some unique survival stories in which luck played a significant or decisive role.

7 most resilient people in the world

1. Aron Ralston

Mountaineer Aron Ralston traveled alone through a canyon in Utah. Trying to overcome another crevice, the man slid down, dragging a large boulder with him, which clamped his right hand in a death grip. It was 2003, and mobile communications at that time were very unstable, especially in such a wilderness.

Aron made the most appropriate decision: he divided the available food supply into parts in the hope that he would last a few days and wait for help. The days passed. The climber recorded the appeals on a portable video camera, losing faith that he could get out.

Finally, all the supplies ran out. Then, Aron Ralston was faced with a cruel choice: he would die in these mountains in a couple of days or cut off his stuck arm. A blunt multitool knife was used for amputation.

Aron descended the remaining 20 meters to the bottom of the canyon with one hand, after which he walked several dozen miles to the nearest recreation center, where he received help. Amazingly, this did not break the climber, and he continued to conquer the mountains with a prosthesis instead of his right hand.

2. Austin Hatch

They say that airplanes are the safest form of transport. They don’t fall often, and every single case becomes sad. However, Austin Hatch, whose plane crashes took away a lot but not his life, will not agree with this statement.

The first time a man said goodbye to the world was in 2003. Then, a small plane operated by the head of the family crashed to the ground due to incorrect calculations of fuel in the tanks. Austin’s mother, brother, and sister were killed. His father carried him out of the burning wreckage in his arms. The second case occurred in 2011.

Austin Hatch enrolled at the University of Michigan and was preparing to play for the local basketball team. Another disaster claimed the lives of his father and stepmother.

Austin spent almost two months in a coma. Doctors questioned the young man’s ability to walk, but it turned out that the guy had an indomitable spirit. He gradually recovered and managed to get back on his feet and play on the Michigan basketball team.

3. Harrison Okene

Such a picture can be seen in films. The main character finds himself locked up on a sinking ship, finds an airbag, and then gets out to the surface. The fantastic scenario came to life in 2013.

Harrison Oken worked as a cook on the tugboat “Jescon-4”. The ship was caught in a severe storm off the coast of Nigeria and capsized. Soon, the ship touched the bottom, and Harrison found himself completely isolated at a depth of more than thirty meters.

Most of the team died, but by chance, he ended up in that very airbag, like in the movies. Harrison Okene spent the next 72 hours in total darkness, alone with his thoughts. The situation seemed hopeless, but suddenly, divers appeared. They searched for the bodies of the dead and were surprised by their find. The cook was already safe in just half an hour, but since then, Harrison has preferred to stay on land.

4. Joe Simpson

Once again, we come to the example of a heartbreaking ordeal worthy of a film adaptation. In 1985, Joe Simpson conquered one of the peaks in the Peruvian Andes. Together with his partner Simon Yates, they climbed the western wall of Siula Grande and became the first people to climb this route.

The triumph was overshadowed on the way back. During the descent, Joe stumbled and broke his leg. In the harsh realities of the mountains, this is almost a verdict. After consulting, the partners decided to use ropes for further descent.

At some point, Joe Simpson began to rock violently. Now, he found himself as a direct threat to his partner’s life. Simon decided to cut the cable to save himself. It’s hard to imagine what kind of thought flew through Joe’s head as he rushed down. He fell onto a small ledge and rolled down to the glacier. Waking up, Joe wandered towards the base camp. Three days later, rescuers found him.

5. Poon Lim

In 1942, unlimited submarine warfare was underway in the Atlantic Ocean. The submarines could torpedo any enemy vessels, including merchant or passenger ships. One of the German boats attacked the British SS Ben Lomond. Panic broke out; many crew members died immediately, and others jumped overboard, trying to escape from the sinking ship.

Chinese sailor Poon Lim managed to climb onto a life raft and sailed away. He was quickly swept away by the current away from the crash site. A new question arose before him: how to survive? The Atlantic Ocean is huge, and the raft cannot withstand the powerful current.

Waiting for a miracle remains, but the process will likely be delayed. Poon Lim adapted a wristwatch strap for catching fish and birds. I collected rainwater and fought off several shark attacks. 133 days later, he was discovered by Brazilian fishermen. Sailor Poon was clearly exhausted but remained conscious and even managed to board the fishing ship himself.

6. Tsutomu Yamaguchi

On the morning of August 6, 1945, Tsutomu Yamaguchi met in Hiroshima. A Japanese naval engineer was in the city on a mission. An American plane appeared in the sky, dropping an atomic bomb. Yamaguchi was only three kilometers from the epicenter. The blast knocked him off his feet, leaving severe burns and causing temporary blindness.

Nevertheless, the young man survived and the next day decided to return to his family in his native Nagasaki. For the next two days, the engineer came to his senses, telling others about a new deadly weapon that could destroy an entire city in a matter of seconds.

On August 9, a familiar glow appeared in the sky again. It was the second bomb that instantly killed tens of thousands of people. Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived again and lived to be 93 years old. He died in 2010 at his home in Nagasaki.

7. Vesna Vulovich

Yugoslav stewardess Vesna Vulovic was an intern on board JAT flight 367, departing from Stockholm to Belgrade. A powerful explosion shook the plane at a maximum altitude of 10,000 meters. The causes of the accident could not be determined.

The Yugoslav authorities considered the possibility of a terrorist attack, but the debris was scattered over such a large area that it was impossible to restore the picture. No remnants of explosives were found. But one of the locals found the girl’s body under part of the fuselage.

Vesna suffered multiple fractures and was unconscious but showed signs of life. Later, the girl said that she lost consciousness immediately after the destruction of the plane. She doesn’t remember how she survived falling from a height of ten kilometers. Vesna Vulovich holds the Guinness World Record for the highest fall without a parachute.