Humans, and sometimes even animals, possess an incredible will to live. Their resilience in the face of unimaginable horror can be truly astonishing. Some might call these survivals miracles, others acts of fate. Whatever the reason, these stories remind us of the sheer power of endurance. What enables someone to pull through when facing certain death?
Prepare to be amazed by these 10 individuals (and one brave dog) who encountered terrifying situations and, against all odds, lived to share their tales. From surviving falls from great heights to enduring horrific attacks, their stories are a testament to the strength of the survival instinct.
10 Tim Lancaster
Imagine flying a plane one moment and being sucked out of the cockpit window the next. This nightmare became a reality for Captain Tim Lancaster on June 20, 1990. While piloting British Airways Flight 5390, a poorly fitted windscreen panel blew out at 17,000 feet.
The explosive decompression pulled Captain Lancaster headfirst out of the aircraft. Miraculously, his legs snagged on the flight controls, preventing him from being completely ejected. Flight attendants bravely clung to his legs, even as they believed him to be dead due to the battering he took against the fuselage in the freezing, thin air. The co-pilot, fearing letting go would damage the plane, insisted they hold on. Against all expectations, when the plane landed, Lancaster was alive. He suffered fractures, bruising, and frostbite but returned to flying within five months. An incredible story of teamwork and sheer luck!
9 Finn the Dog
On October 5, 2016, police dog Finn was on duty with his handler, PC Dave Wardell, in Stevenage, England. They were pursuing an armed suspect. When Finn caught up to the suspect and grabbed his leg, the man viciously attacked the brave German Shepherd.
The suspect plunged a large knife into Finn’s chest and then slashed at his head. Despite these life-threatening injuries, Finn didn’t let go. PC Wardell managed to disarm the attacker. Finn was rushed to a vet and underwent emergency surgery, including the removal of part of his lung. Amazingly, he made a full recovery and was back on duty just 11 weeks later. This incident led to ‘Finn’s Law,’ strengthening legal protections for service animals in the UK.
8 Putney Bridge Woman
A chilling CCTV video from May 5, 2017, in London, captured a shocking, unprovoked attack. A woman walking across Putney Bridge was inexplicably shoved by a male jogger directly into the path of an oncoming double-decker bus.
The footage shows her falling into the road, mere inches from the bus’s wheels. It was only the bus driver’s lightning-fast reflexes that saved her life. He swerved sharply, narrowly avoiding her. The woman escaped with minor injuries, a truly miraculous outcome given the circumstances. The jogger, however, was never identified, leaving a sense of unease and injustice.
7 Jennifer Morey
On an ordinary night in April 1995, Jennifer Morey of Houston, Texas, awoke to a terrifying discovery: an intruder was in her bed, holding a knife to her throat. The man, disturbingly, knew her name. Despite her screams and struggles, he slashed her throat and fled.
Against all odds, Jennifer survived the horrific attack. She managed to call 911 and receive prompt medical attention. The police quickly identified her attacker as the security guard for her apartment complex—a place she had chosen for its perceived safety. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Jennifer Morey not only recovered but went on to open her own law practice, a testament to her incredible strength.
6 Charla Nash
In February 2009, Charla Nash suffered a devastating attack by a 200-pound chimpanzee named Travis in Stamford, Connecticut. Travis, owned by Nash’s friend Sandra Herold, had lived with humans since he was a baby. That day, seeing Charla with his favorite toy, Travis inexplicably went into a rage.
The chimp mauled Charla, inflicting catastrophic injuries. He tore off her hands, eyelids, nose, and lips, and shattered many bones in her face. Sandra Herold even stabbed Travis with a butcher knife in a desperate attempt to stop the attack, which only ended when police arrived and shot the animal. Charla’s survival was nothing short of a miracle. She underwent numerous surgeries, including a face transplant in 2011, and now lives with part-time care.
5 Harrison Okene
For Harrison Okene, May 26, 2013, could easily have been his last day. He was a cook aboard a tugboat in the Atlantic Ocean when rough seas caused the vessel to capsize and sink 30 meters (98 feet) to the seabed. Eleven crew members perished; Okene was the sole survivor.
How did he survive? Okene found his way to an air pocket in a cabin. He cleverly built a small platform to keep most of his body out of the rising water, staving off hypothermia and drowning. Trapped in the dark, cold, and with limited air, he waited. Nearly three days later, a dive team, sent to recover bodies, miraculously found him alive. Okene, who initially vowed never to return to the sea, later earned a commercial diving diploma.
4 Phineas Gage
It’s almost impossible to fathom surviving a large iron rod blasting through one’s skull, but Phineas Gage did just that in 1848. While working as a railroad foreman in Vermont, an accidental explosion shot a tamping iron—over an inch in diameter and more than three feet long—up through his left cheek, behind his eye, and out the top of his head.
The injury destroyed a significant portion of his brain’s frontal lobe, the area controlling personality and behavior. Amazingly, Gage was conscious and talking minutes after the accident. While he survived, his personality reportedly changed drastically. Dr. John Martyn Harlow, who treated him, noted Gage became “fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity.” Gage lived for another 12 years, his case becoming a cornerstone in the study of brain function.
3 Truman Duncan
Another railroad worker, Truman Duncan, experienced a horrific accident in June 2006 in Cleburne, Texas. While riding on the front of a train car, he slipped and fell onto the tracks. The train caught him, dragging him for about 23 meters (75 feet) and essentially severing his body at the waist.
Incredibly, despite such devastating injuries, Duncan remained conscious and determined to live. He managed to reach his phone and call 911. While waiting 45 agonizing minutes for help, he fought to stay awake, thinking of his family. He had lost over half his body’s blood by the time rescuers arrived. Duncan survived, undergoing over 20 surgeries and losing both legs. Remarkably, he later returned to an office job at the same rail yard.
2 Mary Vincent
In 1978, 15-year-old Mary Vincent was hitchhiking when she accepted a ride from Lawrence Singleton. What began as a seemingly normal ride turned into a nightmare. After Singleton stopped the van, he attacked Mary with a hammer, tied her up, and repeatedly assaulted her. When she regained consciousness, he dragged her from the van.
Fearing she would identify him, Singleton then brutally attacked her with a hatchet, severing both her forearms. He left her for dead in a drainage culvert. Showing unimaginable courage and will to survive, Mary, despite her horrific injuries, managed to climb an embankment and get help. She recovered physically, and Singleton was sentenced to 14 years but served only eight. Years later, he murdered another woman. Mary bravely faced him in court during his sentencing for that crime.
1 Alison Botha
Alison Botha’s story of survival is one of the most harrowing and inspiring. In December 1994, near Port Elizabeth, South Africa, she was abducted from her car by two men, Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger. They drove her to a remote area, where they raped her and then brutally stabbed her more than 30 times.
To ensure she wouldn’t survive and report them, they disemboweled her and slashed her throat so deeply that she was nearly decapitated. They left her for dead. Miraculously, Alison remained conscious. She later described having to hold her head on as she crawled to a nearby road to flag down help. Despite the severity of her injuries, she survived. Alison went on to share her story, becoming an inspirational speaker. Her attackers were sentenced to life in prison.
These stories are extreme, yet they highlight an incredible capacity for survival that lies within living beings. They faced the unimaginable and emerged, often bearing scars, but always carrying a powerful story of resilience.
What did you think of these incredible survival stories? Do you know of any others that seem impossible? Leave your comment below!
