Bear Grylls - True Courage. True stories of heroism and survival that shaped my personality

Bear Grylls

True Courage

True stories of heroism and survival that shaped my personality

Dedicated to the heroes of the past and present.

To those already tempered by the difficulties remaining in memory,

thanks to perfect deeds and fortitude, and those

who are still young and don’t know what they have to go through

challenges and become the heroes of tomorrow

IN autumn forest, at the fork in the road,

I stood, lost in thought, at the turn;

There were two ways, and the world was wide,

However, I could not split myself in two,

And I had to decide on something.

Robert Frost (Translated from English by Grigory Kruzhkov)

Preface

I get asked one question over and over again: who are my heroes, what influences me, my inspiration?

This question is not easy to answer. What is certain is that my father was a hero to me: an adventurer, a cheerful, modest man of the people, a risk-taker without fear, a mountaineer, a commando and a loving, attentive parent.

But, for the most part, the sources that physically and morally pushed me to action were of a different origin.

I hope this book can surprise you with some of the most inspiring, powerful, mind-blowing feats to discover. human spirit and endurance ever accomplished in the world.

The choice of heroes was huge. Some stories you know, some you don't, each of them conveys pain and hardship, and they can be contrasted with other stories of even greater hardships - painful, heartbreaking, but inspiring in equal measure. I decided to present you the entire collection of episodes in chronological order, not only because each story touches my soul, but also because they cover a wide range of events and emotions: from the Antarctic hell to the desert, from acts of unprecedented bravery to encounters with unimaginable horror and the realization of the need to lose an arm in order to survive.

What pushes men and women to this abyss and forces them to take risks? Where do these inexhaustible reserves of resilience, courage and determination come from? Are we born with them, or do they appear in us as we gain life experience?

Again, this is not an easy question to answer. If I was able to learn anything, it was only one thing: there are no standards for heroes - their appearance can be the most unexpected. When people pass tests, they often surprise themselves.

At the same time, there is a certain element that distinguishes people who are destined for greatness. They train character and resilience, with youth cultivate self-confidence and determination. This undoubtedly benefits them when testing times come.

Ultimately, I like to think of a quote from Walt Unsworth in which he sums up the qualities of adventurers: “There are people for whom the unattainable is attractive. As a rule, they are not experts: their ambitions and fantasies are strong enough to cast aside all the doubts that plague most cautious people. Determination and faith are their main weapons.”

In addition, I am sure that we are all capable of doing great things, endowed with an incredible reserve of strength, the existence of which we sometimes do not suspect. To understand what the grapes are made of, you need to squeeze them thoroughly.

Likewise, people are able to explore the depths of the reservoir with courage, perseverance and resilience only when their life is compressed to the size of a raisin.

At such moments, some die, but there are also those who survive. But, having gone through the stage of struggle, they get the opportunity to touch something very important related to the understanding of what it means to be human - they find a fire inside themselves, and the awareness of this goes far beyond the physical understanding of the world.

I hope my book will serve as a reminder that this spirit is alive, an ember burns in each of us, you just need to be able to see the flame.

I hope the stories will inspire you, help you become braver and stronger, so that you are always ready for testing times.

And remember, Winston Churchill once said: “When you go through hell, don’t stop.”

Now sit back and let me introduce my heroes...

Nando Parrado: The Taste of Human Flesh

For twenty-two-year-old Nando Parrado, the upcoming trip looked like a pleasant family trip.

He played for the Uruguayan rugby team, which arranged a flight to Santiago in Chile for an exhibition match. He invited his mother Evgenia and sister Susie to go with him - they were to fly over the Andes on a twin-engine turboprop plane.

Flight 571 took off on Friday, October 13, 1972, and some of the guys chuckled that it was not a good day for pilots who would be flying over the mountain range where weather can be difficult and even dangerous. Layers of hot air in the foothills collide with cold air at altitude near the snowy peaks. The resulting vortex is not conducive to easy flight of the aircraft. But their jokes seemed harmless, because the weather forecast was quite favorable.

However, in the mountains the weather changes quickly. And especially in these mountains. The flight lasted only a couple of hours when the pilot was forced to land the plane in the town of Mendoza in the foothills of the Andes.

They had to spend the night there. The next day, the pilots were still undecided whether to take off and continue the journey. Passengers wanting to start the match as soon as possible pressed them to get on the road.

As it turned out, the move was wrong.

The plane encountered turbulence over the Planchon Pass. Four sharp blows. Some guys screamed with joy, as if they were riding a roller coaster. Nando's mother and sister looked scared and sat holding hands. Nando opened his mouth to calm them down a little, but the words got stuck in his throat - the plane plummeted a good hundred feet.

There were no more enthusiastic exclamations.

The plane shook with tremors. Many passengers were already screaming in fear. Nando's neighbor pointed out the porthole. Ten meters from the wing, Nando saw the side of a mountain: a huge wall of stone and snow.

The neighbor asked if they should fly so close. His voice trembled with horror.

Nando didn't answer. He was busy listening to the sound of the engines as the pilots desperately tried to gain altitude. The plane shook with such force that it seemed like it was about to fall apart.

Nando caught the frightened glances of his mother and sister.

And then everything happened.

A terrible grinding sound of metal on stone. The plane hit rocks and fell to pieces.

Nando raised his head and saw the sky overhead and the clouds floating into the passage.

Streams of wind blew across my face.

There was no time even to pray. Not a minute to think about everything. Incredible Power pushed him out of the chair, everything around turned into an endless rumble.

Nando had no doubt that he would die and his death would be terrible and painful.

With these thoughts he plunged into darkness.

For three days after the accident, Nando lay unconscious and did not see what injuries some of his comrades received.

One guy had an iron pipe pierced through his stomach, and when he tried to pull it out, his intestines fell out.

Bravery is of no use where there is no justice, and if you became just, there would be no need for courage at all.
Agesilaus

Courage is no longer found in starting a fight, but in being able to avoid it.
M. Anderson

Bravery occupies a middle place between arrogant courage and timidity. Apuleius
The crown of courage is modesty.
Arab.

He who meaningfully rushes into danger for the sake of good and is not afraid of it is courageous, and this is courage.
Aristotle

Courage is a virtue that causes people to do wonderful things in danger.
Aristotle

Sometimes courage comes from fear.
D. Byron

True Courage- it's not only balloon for ascent, but also a parachute for landing.
K. Berne

True courage is laconic: it costs so little to show itself that it considers heroism itself to be a duty, not a feat.
A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky

Bravery to defend the fatherland is a virtue, but courage in a robber is a villainy.
A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky

Valor is moral courage.
D. Blackie

If you avoid the first test of your courage, you will be all the weaker at the second.
D. Blackie

A courageous person usually suffers without complaining, but a weak person complains without suffering.
P. Buast

Courage is the strength to resist; courage - to attack evil.
P. Buast

There is only one philosophy, although divided into thousands of schools, and its name is perseverance. To bear your lot means to win.
E. Bulwer-Lytton

All virtues free us from the domination of vices; only courage frees us from the domination of fate.
F. Bacon

Fate helps the brave.
Virgil

Courage is fearlessness, intelligence is the understanding of good and evil, strength is the ability to act, a hero is someone who combines these three virtues.
Vidyapati

Courage helps in adversity more than reason.
L. Vauvenargues

True courage is found in times of adversity.
Voltaire

An pound of courage is worth a ton of luck.
D. Garfield

The true courage of enlightened peoples lies in their readiness to sacrifice themselves in the name of their homeland.
G. Hegel

It is often courage that is responsible for the discovery of the greatest truths, and the fear of the possibility of error should not turn us away from the search for truth.
K. Helvetius

To be completely devoid of courage, one must be completely devoid of desires.
K. Helvetius

Truly courageous man must show timidity when deciding on something, must weigh all the contingencies, but when executing it must be courageous.
Herodotus

Bold thoughts play the role of advanced checkers in the game; they die, but ensure victory.
I. Goethe

The madness of the brave is the wisdom of life!
M. Gorky

Courage gives birth to winners, harmony - invincible.
K. Delavigne

Courageous is not only the one who defeats his enemies, but also the one who dominates his passions. Some reign over cities and at the same time are slaves of women.
Democritus

Courage makes the blows of fate insignificant.
Democritus

Courage is the beginning of a thing, but chance is the master of the end.
Democritus

Fear of acting shamefully is courage; The same courage is the ability to patiently endure the unworthy actions of others towards us.
B. Johnson

True courage is caution.
Euripides

Courage is not about facing danger boldly, but about facing it with open eyes.
Jean Paul

Courage is good in execution, but not in discussion. But when the job has already been done, it makes no sense to ask whether it needs to be done.
Zechariah

In life, it takes a lot of courage to be human and maintain your dignity.
V. Zubkov

Life is a struggle, and in order to win a worthy victory in it, a person needs everyday courage.
V. Zubkov

The greatest test of a man's courage is to be defeated and not lose heart.
R. Ingersoll

Calling for courage is already half the same as instilling it.
I. Kant

Courage is a great quality of the soul; the people marked by it should be proud of themselves.
N. Karamzin

To be courageous means to curb your temper.
Kashifi

The difference between a brave man and a coward is that the first, aware of the danger, does not feel fear, and the second feels fear, not realizing the danger.
V. Klyuchevsky

Courage gains its gains from the cowardice of others.
Ya. Knyazhnin

A brave soul will not become treacherous.
P. Corneille

A courageous man is true to his word.
P. Corneille

True courage is demonstrated by doing something without witnesses that could be done in front of the whole world.
F. La Rochefoucauld

The bravest and most reasonable people- these are those who, under any plausible pretext, try not to think about death.
F. La Rochefoucauld

True courage is expressed in calm self-control and in the calm performance of one's duty, regardless of any calamity or danger.
D. Locke

True courage is ready to face any danger and remains steadfast no matter what disaster threatens.
D. Locke

Courage is the guardian and support of all other virtues, and one who lacks courage can hardly be firm in the performance of duty and demonstrate all the qualities of a truly worthy person.
D. Locke

There are two kinds of courage: the courage of superiority and the courage of mental squalor, which draws strength from its official position, from the consciousness that it uses a privileged weapon in the struggle.
K. Marx and F. Engels

Courageous is the one who manages to be kind in misfortune.
Martial

Courage creates states, virtue protects them, crime leads to their dishonor, carelessness leads to despotism.
O. Mirabeau

You must be able to endure what cannot be avoided.
M. Montaigne

A courageous act should not necessarily presuppose valor in the person who committed it, for the one who is truly valiant will always be so in all circumstances.
M. Montaigne

Courage is like love: it needs to be fueled by hope.
Napoleon I

With courage you can do anything, but not everything can be done.
Napoleon

I love the brave: but it’s not enough to be a slasher, you also need to know who to slash! And often there is more courage in holding back and passing by and thereby saving yourself for a more worthy enemy!
F. Nietzsche

Courage is cultivated day after day through persistent resistance to difficulties. N. Ostrovsky
Courage in adversity is half the trouble.
Plautus

Courage is the beginning of victory.
Plutarch

Where all other conditions are equal, the more courageous one emerges victorious.
Plutarch

Courage increases valor, hesitation increases fear.
Publilius Syrus

Courage of mind consists in not giving in to the hardships of mental labor.
R. Roman

True courage is more tenacity than impatience... it doesn't need to be pushed or restrained.
J. J. Rousseau

Courage without prudence is only a special kind of cowardice.
Seneca the Younger

Nothing in the world deserves such surprise as a person who can courageously endure adversity.
Seneca the Younger

ABOUT courageous heart all adversities are broken.
M. Cervantes

Courage, bordering on recklessness, contains more madness than fortitude.
M. Cervantes

Courage lies in the ability to choose the least evil, no matter how terrible it may be.
M. Cervantes

Fate helps the brave.
Terence

It is not the one who is courageous who climbs into danger without feeling fear, but the one who can suppress the strongest fear and think about danger without submitting to fear.
K. Ushinsky

Physical courage is an animal instinct, moral courage is a higher and truer courage.
W. Phillips

Let everything else leave me, if only my courage does not leave me.
I. Fichte

A person lacking determination can never be considered to belong to himself.
W. Foster

The rarest courage is the courage of thought.
A. France

The desire for danger lies at the root of all great passions.
A. France

Anyone who strikes in the name of a just cause must be strong not only as a hammer, but also as an anvil.
D. Holland

Courage usually goes hand in hand with gentleness of character, and a courageous person is more capable of generosity than others.
N. Shelgunov

I would define true courage as the perfect ability to assess the extent of danger and the moral readiness to withstand it.
W. Sherman

Courage grows with danger: the harder it is, the more strength you have.
F. Schiller

Courage is not a virtue, although it is sometimes its servant or tool; but it is just as ready to serve the greatest baseness, therefore, it is a property of temperament.
A. Schopenhauer

The courageous soul hates easy success; the ardor of attack gives strength to defense.
R. Emerson

If courage and ambition are not regulated by benevolence, they can only make a man a tyrant or a robber.
D. Hume

Courage does not exist, there is only pride.
George Bernard Shaw

Courageous people are courageous, but not all courageous people are courageous.
Plato

It is very rare to find courage at two o'clock in the morning, that is, courage taken by surprise.
Napoleon I

The most pathetic thing is to lose the courage to die and not have the courage to live.
Seneca

The most courageous man, taking up arms, turns pale; The most fearless and furious soldier’s knees tremble a little when the signal for battle is given; and the most eloquent speaker, when he is preparing to deliver a speech, has cold hands and feet.
Seneca

One of the mistakes that the Germans made in the 20th century, and before too. - this is that they did not have the courage to be afraid.
Gunther Grass

There is also this kind of courage - telling the hairdresser: “I don’t need cologne!”
Jules Renard

Being courageous and being right are not the same thing.
Janusz Wasilkowski

Have the courage to live. Anyone can die.
Robert Cody

Courage is tested when we are in the minority; tolerance - when we are in the majority.
Ralph Sockman

BEAR GRILLS

TRUE COURAGE

Real stories about heroism and survival skills that shaped my personality

Dedicated to the heroes of the past and present.

To those already tempered by the difficulties remaining in memory,

thanks to perfect deeds and fortitude, and those

who are still young and don’t know what they have to go through

challenges and become the heroes of tomorrow

In the autumn forest, at a fork in the road,

I stood, lost in thought, at the turn;

There were two ways, and the world was wide,

However, I could not split myself in two,

And I had to decide on something.

Robert Frost

(Translated from English by Grigory Kruzhkov)

I get asked one question over and over again: who are my heroes, what influences me, my inspiration?

But, for the most part, the sources that physically and morally pushed me to action were of a different origin.

I hope this book can surprise you with discoveries of some of the most inspiring, powerful, mind-blowing feats of human spirit and endurance ever accomplished in the world.

The choice of heroes was huge. Some stories are familiar to you, some are not, each of them conveys pain and hardship, they can be contrasted with other stories of even greater hardships - painful, heartbreaking, but inspiring in equal measure. I decided to present the entire collection of episodes to you in chronological order, not only because each story touches my soul, but also because they cover a wide range of events and emotions: from Antarctic hell to desert, from unprecedented acts of bravery to clashes with unimaginable horror and the realization of the need to lose an arm in order to survive.

At the same time, there is a certain element that distinguishes people who are destined for greatness. They train character and resilience, cultivating self-confidence and determination from a young age. This undoubtedly benefits them when testing times come.

Likewise, people are able to explore the depths of the reservoir with courage, perseverance and resilience only when their life is compressed to the size of a raisin.

I hope my book will serve as a reminder that this spirit is alive, an ember burns in each of us, you just need to be able to see the flame.

I hope the stories will inspire you, help you become braver and stronger, so that you are always ready for testing times.

And remember, Winston Churchill once said: “When you go through hell, don’t stop.”

Now sit back and let me introduce my heroes...

Nando Parrado:

The taste of human meat

For twenty-two-year-old Nando Parrado, the upcoming trip looked like a pleasant family trip.

Flight 571 took off on Friday, October 13, 1972, and some of the guys chuckled that it was not a good day for pilots who would be flying over a mountain range where weather conditions could be difficult and even dangerous. Layers of hot air in the foothills collide with cold air at altitude near the snowy peaks. The resulting vortex is not conducive to easy flight of the aircraft. But their jokes seemed harmless, because the weather forecast was quite favorable.

As it turned out, the move was wrong.

There were no more enthusiastic exclamations.

The neighbor asked if they should fly so close. His voice trembled with horror.

Nando caught the frightened glances of his mother and sister.

And then everything happened.

A terrible grinding sound of metal on stone. The plane hit rocks and fell to pieces.

Nando raised his head and saw the sky overhead and the clouds floating into the passage.

Streams of wind blew across my face.

There was no time even to pray. Not a minute to think about everything. An incredible force pushed him out of his chair, and everything around him turned into an endless rumble.

Nando had no doubt that he would die and his death would be terrible and painful.

With these thoughts he plunged into darkness.

The problem of true courage was revealed in his novel “War and Peace” by L.N. Tolstoy using the example of a real feat accomplished by the Russian people during Patriotic War The war in the novel “War and Peace” is shown as a grandiose national disaster, a majestic patriotic accomplishment. The victory in the Patriotic War, according to Tolstoy, was the people. People won, as if “family united in the body of their nation, people in whose souls had been hidden for the time being.” until time hidden forces patriotism For their bright manifestation, these forces did not require, did not need any ceremonial splendor, nor calls and slogans, nor orders and external coercion. Everything was done without any orders, because the Russian people rose to fight out of an offended national feeling And on Raevsky’s battery in the Battle of Borodino, and in the partisan detachments of Denisov and Dolokhov, everyone learned their job, place and purpose
Russian people did not need to talk about the Fatherland and loyalty to the Tsar, about patriotism and heroism. Official patriotic phraseology and pomp in conversation were alien to the people who led people's war Tikhon Shcherbaty, having heard high patriotic words from Denivos, was frightened. In "War and Peace" heroes are unthinkable who, as Andrei Bolkonsky would have given a speech to the soldiers calling to die on the battlefield during the Battle of Borodino, first considered it his duty to arouse the courage of the soldiers and show them example, but then he became convinced that he had nothing and nothing to teach them
It is not numerical superiority, not the strategic plans of the commanders, but the inspiration of the soldiers that influences the course of the battle. The writer shows the heroism of a man who least of all thinks about his own heroism. Acting on his own initiative, forgotten by his superiors and left without cover, Tushin and his artillerymen decide the outcome of the battle, without suspecting it In the midst of the battle, both Tushin and his soldiers are excited, cheerful, unusually active. Their feelings are united. Tushin addresses the soldiers not as a boss, but as a friend, “darlings.” Simplicity and extraordinary kindness resound in his every word Tolstoy repeatedly emphasizes that There is nothing military, much less warlike, in Tushin’s appearance. He is compared with Zherkov, the senior in rank, who nevertheless excelled in battle, while Tushin showed himself to be a real warrior
Such is the brave officer Timokhin. The battle is over, and people, just like Timokhin, like Tushin, who heroically fought the enemy, returned to military everyday life. From the soldiers’ fires, the writer leads us to the hut where the generals gathered. Here everyone boasts, lies, taking credit for themselves. unprecedented feats, emphasizing his role in the battle. In the eyes of these smug people, the figure of Tushin looks pitiful -true hero day
It was during the Patriotic War that the ability of the Russian people for free unity was revealed with maximum force, showing unity best forces Russian nation Kutuzov, Bolkonsky, Bezukhov, Timokhin, soldiers of Raevsky's battery, militias, partisans are united in their impulse to expel the aggressor from their land. The War of the Twelfth Year was glorified by Tolstoy as the defense of the Fatherland and condemned in its inhuman essence, like any war. Thus, the author shows this war in blood, suffering, death. Heroism and cowardice, simplicity and vanity were contradictorily intertwined in the thoughts and actions of the participants in the battle of Shengraben. But we cannot help but notice that the decisive force in the battle was the unity and animation of thousands of ordinary soldiers who did not think about glory and awards In war, as in general in the history of mankind, the activity of the human masses, bound by the unity of feelings and aspirations, determines the course of events
Neither the soldiers of Raevsky’s battery, nor the militia, nor Tushin, nor Timokhin, nor Kutuzov, nor Dokhturov are called heroes anywhere Tolstoy refuses this word He distinguishes the naturalness of the patriotic actions of all Russian people Let us remember the author’s favorite thought about the hidden warmth of patriotism The author is focused on the moral side of the perfect in the Patriotic War of People's Feat
It was during the Patriotic War that the ability of the Russian people for free unity was revealed with maximum force. There was a complete unification of the best forces of the Russian nation. Kutuzov, Bolkonsky, Bezukhov, Timokhin, soldiers of Raevsky’s battery, partisans and militias were united in the impulse to expel the aggressor from their land

On April 2, 1961, a rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. She launched the Vostok satellite into orbit with a person on board. Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut on Earth, later recalled that when he was just preparing for the flight, he, like probably you...

Moral, eternal problems have always been one of the main themes of Russian literature dedicated to military themes. The topic of man in war was the main litmus test for Russia in testing humanity. Moral issues, the theme of choice...

I like to peer into people's faces and try to understand what they are thinking about and what they are doing. Of course, I can’t know exactly what they think. This guy has strong muscles, calloused hands, he’s probably an athlete. With his height, it’s good to play basketball...

Good physical health is required condition happy life. A naturally healthy person does not notice his health and only after losing it does he understand the uselessness of everything that was most important to him: career, success, money, acquaintances,...

Dedicated to the heroes of the past and present.

To those already tempered by the difficulties remaining in memory,

thanks to perfect deeds and fortitude, and those

who are still young and don’t know what they have to go through

challenges and become the heroes of tomorrow

In the autumn forest, at a fork in the road,
I stood, lost in thought, at the turn;
There were two ways, and the world was wide,
However, I could not split myself in two,
And I had to decide on something.

Robert Frost (Translated from English by Grigory Kruzhkov)

* * *

Preface

I get asked one question over and over again: who are my heroes, what influences me, my inspiration?

But, for the most part, the sources that physically and morally pushed me to action were of a different origin.

I hope this book can surprise you with discoveries of some of the most inspiring, powerful, mind-blowing feats of human spirit and endurance ever accomplished in the world.

The choice of heroes was huge. Some stories you know, some you don't, each of them conveys pain and hardship, and they can be contrasted with other stories of even greater hardships - painful, heartbreaking, but inspiring in equal measure. I decided to present the entire collection of episodes to you in chronological order, not only because each story touches my soul, but also because they cover a wide range of events and emotions: from Antarctic hell to desert, from unprecedented acts of bravery to clashes with unimaginable horror and the realization of the need to lose an arm in order to survive.

Likewise, people are able to explore the depths of the reservoir with courage, perseverance and resilience only when their life is compressed to the size of a raisin.

I hope my book will serve as a reminder that this spirit is alive, an ember burns in each of us, you just need to be able to see the flame.

I hope the stories will inspire you, help you become braver and stronger, so that you are always ready for testing times.

And remember, Winston Churchill once said: “When you go through hell, don’t stop.”

Now sit back and let me introduce my heroes...

Nando Parrado: The Taste of Human Flesh

For twenty-two-year-old Nando Parrado, the upcoming trip looked like a pleasant family trip.

As it turned out, the move was wrong.

There were no more enthusiastic exclamations.

The neighbor asked if they should fly so close. His voice trembled with horror.

Nando caught the frightened glances of his mother and sister.

And then everything happened.

A terrible grinding sound of metal on stone. The plane hit rocks and fell to pieces.

Nando raised his head and saw the sky overhead and the clouds floating into the passage.

Streams of wind blew across my face.

There was no time even to pray. Not a minute to think about everything. An incredible force pushed him out of his chair, and everything around him turned into an endless rumble.

Nando had no doubt that he would die and his death would be terrible and painful.

With these thoughts he plunged into darkness.

For three days after the accident, Nando lay unconscious and did not see what injuries some of his comrades received.

One guy had an iron pipe pierced through his stomach, and when he tried to pull it out, his intestines fell out.

Another man's calf muscle was torn from the bone and wrapped around his shin. The bone was exposed, and the man had to put the muscle back in place before bandaging it.

One woman's body was covered with bleeding wounds, her leg was broken, she screamed heart-rendingly and fought in agony, but no one could do anything for her except leave her to die.

Nando was still breathing, but no one expected him to survive. Despite the gloomy forebodings of his comrades, three days later he came to his senses.

He lay on the floor of the destroyed fuselage, where the surviving passengers huddled. The bodies of the dead were piled outside in the snow. The plane's wings came off. The tail too. They were scattered across a snowy, rocky valley, looking around which one could only see rocky peaks. However, now all Nando’s thoughts were about his family.

The news was bad. His mother died.

Nando was painfully worried, but did not allow himself to cry. Tears contribute to the loss of salt, and without salt he will certainly die. He only regained consciousness a few minutes ago, but he had already promised himself not to give up.

You have to survive no matter what.

IN terrible disaster Fifteen people died, but now Nando was thinking about his sister. Susie was alive. Still alive. The face is covered in blood due to multiple fractures and injuries. internal organs every movement caused her pain. My legs were already black from frostbite. In delirium, she called her mother, asking her to take them home from this terrible cold. All night Nando held his sister in his arms, hoping that the warmth of his body would help her survive.

Fortunately, despite the horror of the situation, it was not as cold inside the plane as outside.

Night temperatures in the mountains drop to -40 degrees Celsius.

While Nando was in a coma, people filled the cracks of the fuselage with snow and bags to provide protection from the cold and gusts of frosty wind. However, when he woke up, his clothes were frozen to his body. Everyone's hair and lips were white with frost.

The plane's fuselage - their only possible refuge - is stuck on top of a huge glacier. They were very high, but nevertheless they had to lift their heads to see the peaks of the surrounding mountains. The mountain air burned my lungs, the shine of the snow blinded my eyes. The sun's rays caused the skin to become blistered.

If they were at sea or in the desert, they would have more chances for survival. There is life in both environments. No one can survive here. There are no animals or plants here.

They managed to find some food in the plane and luggage, but it was too little. Famine was soon to be faced.

The days turned into frosty nights, followed by days again.

On the fifth day after the disaster, the five strongest survivors decided to try to get out of the valley. They returned several hours later, exhausted from lack of oxygen and tired. And they told the others that this was impossible.

The word "impossible" is dangerous in a situation where you are trying to do everything to survive.

On the eighth day, Nando's sister died in his arms. And again, choking with grief, he held back his tears.

Nando buried his sister in the snow. Now he had no one except his father, who remained in Uruguay. Nando mentally swore to him that he would not allow himself to die here in the snowy Andes.

They had water, though in the form of snow.