Miracle in the Andes : 72 Days on the mountain and my long trek home.

Citation

Parrado, Nando. Miracle in the Andes : 72 Days on the mountain and my long trek home,

2006  (original 1975)

Annotation

Nando Parrado, the hero of the international bestseller Alive, offers his own harrowing account of the 1972 plane crash that stranded his rugby team in the Andes for 72 days.

Parrado has written a beautiful and astounding tale of friendship, tragedy and perseverance. The aircraft crashed on a remote, high- altitude, glaciated slope. A huge avalanche buried the entire plane except the tail section and another 8 died. The remaining 16 survivors were trapped  in this snowbank valley for 72 days.

They discovered from a radio that the search had been called off after 10 days as they couldn't see a half white plane half buried the snow.

If they were to survive this ordeal they needed sustenance. They would face the gruesome necessity to eat the flesh of their dead comrades and loved ones.

After two months Parrado and two others, set out on a 10 day journey in subzero cold to find help. They hiked through perilous mountains, oxygen starved, dehydration, loose rocks and a feeling of hopelessness. 'Each step I took was a step stolen back from death.'

This is a remarkable raw and intensely gripping story.  More introspective than the journalistic account published in 1975, Parrado reflects on the cruelties of fate, the power of the natural world and love and friendship. Nando eventually made it out and by a miracle spotted a shepard on a horse. ' I have come from a plane that crashed in the mountains.'

 The survivors left on the mountain were rescued by helicopter. An incredible survival tale of the endurance and the courage of the human spirit, written with a complex inner reflection and  gripping jaw dropping realities this is a must for adventure readers.  Dramatic photos are included.

Here is a link to the documentary called Stranded : I have come from a plane that crashed in the mountains, which was shown at the 55th Sydney Film Festival, 2008. There are  photographs, footage and interviews and with the survivors from Miracle in the Andes with a youtube trailer. 

Retrieved from the website Horrorphile:   Stranded: I have come from a plane...