survival

Read the latest true stories of survival on Newser.com

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

Castaway: Sailors Waved, Didn't Help Me

Jose Alvarenga recounts ordeal, asks to be left alone

(Newser) - Jose Salvador Alvarenga's apparent 13 months adrift in the Pacific Ocean may now be over, but his lengthy trip could have been cut a lot shorter, he says. Since returning to his home in El Salvador , Alvarenga has told doctors several large ships passed by his small fishing boat...

Castaway Arrives Home a Celebrity

Fisherman back in El Salvador after 13 months adrift

(Newser) - A fisherman who says he spent 13 months drifting across the Pacific Ocean finally made it home to El Salvador last night and was overwhelmed by the welcome. Jose Salvador Alvarenga was met by family members, government officials, and dozens of journalists. He attempted to address the media but was...

A Week Later, Guy Lost at Sea Looks ... Worse

Jose Salvador Alvarenga appears weak, tired in appearance today

(Newser) - Jose Salvador Alvarenga seemed in pretty good shape when he washed ashore last week after what he said was more than a year lost at sea. Today, however, the Salvadoran—sporting a short, new haircut and a shave—appeared a lot worse for the wear and needed help entering his...

Man's Incredible Year-at-Sea Story Is 'Plausible'

Mexican officials seem to back some details of Jose Salvador Alvarenga's tale

(Newser) - A mysterious man drifted ashore in the Marshall Islands last week, and his story is almost unbelievable—but is it too unbelievable? A refresher : Jose Salvador Alvarenga says he and a teen named Ezekiel set out from Mexico in December 2012 and ended up adrift at sea; Ezekiel perished, but...

Guy Lost at Sea for Year-Plus Tells His Story

Jose Salvador Albarengo arrives in Majuro

(Newser) - The shrimp and shark fisherman who says he spent more than a year adrift at sea before washing up at a remote Pacific atoll last week arrived in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro today. The man, who previously identified himself as Jose Ivan, told officials his full name is...

Man Says He Spent 16 Months Lost at Sea

Jose Ivan washed ashore on a remote atoll this week after setting off in 2012

(Newser) - No, this isn't the plot of Life of Pi retold, but it sure sounds like it. A bearded, emaciated man wearing only tattered underpants washed onto a remote Pacific atoll in the Marshall Islands yesterday, and told the locals who found him he'd been floating at sea in...

Man Survives Trip Into Wood Chipper

Frank Arce's lower body was mangled in '10 seconds of hell'

(Newser) - Frank Arce of Longview, Washington, has a broken pelvis, broken leg, seven broken ribs, a shattered ankle, a bruised liver, a collapsed lung, and assorted other injuries—but he went into a wood chipper-like machine last week and lived to tell the tale. The wood products worker's 10 seconds...

Missing Man Survived for Month on Butterflies

Stephen Currie found 30 pounds lighter after month in Australia bush

(Newser) - Stephen Currie has a fairly delicate creature to thank in part for his survival, having been stranded for a month in the Australian bush amid 100-degree temps. Three weeks after police gave up the search for the man who went missing Dec. 29 in northern Queensland, Currie, 40, was found...

Man Who Can&#39;t Swim Survives in Sea &mdash;for 60 Hours



 Man Who Can't Swim 
 Survives in Sea 
 —for 60 Hours 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 12, 2014 11:11 AM CST

Man Who Can't Swim Survives in Sea —for 60 Hours

Tseng Lien-fa was only slightly dehydrated when rescued from beach

(Newser) - An amazing survival tale out of Taiwan: A man—unable to swim—was able to stay afloat for 60 hours in the sea after a large wave swept him from a beach where he was catching baby eels. "I managed to hold on as the first wave hit me...

Wife's Calls Save Man Pinned Under Frozen Truck

Trapped trucker survived 8 hours in the cold

(Newser) - A Florida truck driver who became trapped under his vehicle in sub-zero temperatures at an Indiana truck stop very early on Monday survived thanks to a wife who wouldn't stop calling. Tim Rutledge, 53, went under his truck to loosen ice from his brake pads when the vehicle shifted...

Dog Helps Save Woman Stuck 3 Days in Alaska Cold

'Elvis is a little hero'

(Newser) - A woman is lucky to be alive in Alaska after surviving three nights of temperatures that sank as low as minus 20 degrees—and she has "Elvis" to thank. Vivian Mayo, 57, was found severely hypothermic early Wednesday, huddled beneath the burned-out hulk of her snowmobile with her small,...

Lost Nevada Family Heated Rocks to Survive

Staying with vehicle saved their lives, rescuers say

(Newser) - The Nevada family who had been missing in frigid conditions since the weekend has been found alive and authorities say the story has a happy ending because they did a lot of things right. The group, who became stranded when their Jeep rolled over an embankment and into a crevice,...

Man Trapped in Crash for 6 Days—Next to Dead Friend

Richard Koester goes without food, water for almost a week

(Newser) - Two friends were driving on Colorado's Highway 50 on Oct. 11 when their truck careened off the road and fell into a 30-foot ravine, killing the driver. Passenger Richard Koester, however, survived, albeit trapped in the steering wheel. And there he remained trapped for six days, while his family...

80-Year-Old Headbutts Bear, Lives to Tell Tale

Oh, and he got tossed off a cliff, too

(Newser) - As far as survival stories go, this one is pretty impressive: An 80-year-old Russian man encountered a bear in a raspberry field last week, and didn't exactly take it lying down. Yusuf Alchagirov fed the bear a few kicks and headbutts, and also tried to stab it with a...

Woman Rescued After 2 Weeks in Well

Survived on corn

(Newser) - Grasping onto nearby stalks of corn as she tripped into an abandoned well may not have stopped Su Qixiu's fall, but it probably did save her life. Su (alternately described by the media as 38 and 48 years old) fell into the well in central China while out picking...

Man Rescued in Andes Was Fleeing Child Sex Charges

BBC reports he allegedly abused 8-year-old boy in Chile

(Newser) - The man who survived on raisins and rats while lost in the Andes for four months may not have exactly wanted to be found: It turns out Raul Fernando Gomez Cincunegui got lost while fleeing child sex charges, the BBC reports. The facts are a little mushy: The AP got...

Man Lost in Andes Since May Lived on Rats, Raisins

Raul Gomez Cincunegui got lost in snowstorm 4 months ago

(Newser) - An impressive tale of survival out of Argentina, where a man who spent four months lost in the Andes—during the Southern Hemisphere's winter, no less—has been found, according to local media. Raul Fernando Gomez Cincunegui had crossed from his native Uruguay into Chile, but after his motorcycle...

Man, Son Spent 40 Years Alone in Jungle Treehouse
Man, Son Spent 40 Years Alone in Jungle Treehouse
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 11, 2013 6:49 AM CDT

Man, Son Spent 40 Years Alone in Jungle Treehouse

Ho Van Thanh fled the Vietnam War and never came back

(Newser) - After a bomb killed Ho Van Thanh's wife and two of his sons during the Vietnam War, Ho took his 1-year-old son into the jungle—and never came back. That was 40 years ago. On Wednesday, officials carried the too-weak-to-move 82-year-old away from the treehouse he and his son...

'Tipsy' Guy Survives 15th-Floor Fall

Amazingly, he's expected to be on his feet again in around a week

(Newser) - A man who fell while trying to climb from a 15th-floor balcony to his own balcony one floor below is somehow not only still alive, but is expected to be on his feet again in about a week. Tom Stilwell, who found himself locked out after a night out with...

'I Never Dreamed I'd See Daylight Again'

How a woman survived 17 days under factory rubble in Bangladesh

(Newser) - When the factory came crashing down around her, seamstress Reshma Begum ran from the second floor, where she was working, to a Muslim prayer room in the basement. When the rubble had stopped falling she found herself alive and miraculously uninjured, but trapped in a wide pocket of open space....

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>