7 Tales of Survival You Won't Believe ...

1. Shark Attack

The first of these amazing tales of survival is about a 13-year-old surfer called Bethany Hamilton. She woke up one morning in November 2003 and went for a surf with her best friend and her best friend’s father and brother. Suddenly while Bethany was in the water, a shark bit off her left arm, just below the shoulder. Even in the panic, Bethany managed to swim to shore and warn others nearby of the shark in the water. Even the doctors were surprised at her strength and courage!

2. Self-Amputation

When a 363 kilogram boulder fell on Aron Ralston’s arm in a Utah canyon in 2003, he had no choice but to begin a self-amputation. After five days of being trapped, having run out of food and water and his chances of survival getting slimmer and slimmer, Aron broke the bones in his arm and used his pocket knife to perform the amputation. He rappelled to safety and was found by hikers.

3. Stuck on a Raft

1936 Olympic athlete and pilot, Louis Zamperini, was on a search and rescue mission in 1943 when his plane crashed in a Japanese-controlled area of the Pacific Ocean. He swam his way to the surface and found two other survivors. The three managed to find rafts, paddles and a small amount of food. They fought of several sharks with their paddles, battled with starvation and dehydration and even survived attacks by a Japanese bomber. One of the three eventually died, and the remaining two turned to cannibalism to survive. They were finally rescued after 47 days.

4. Lost in the Desert

When residents in a very remote area of Australia saw Ricky Megee stumbling towards them in 2006, they were very surprised! It is thought that Ricky was drugged by a hitchhiker he had picked up 71 days earlier. For those 71 days, he survived by eating snakes, insects and lizards, building himself a shelter, and drinking from a dam. He weighed just 48 kilograms when he was found.

5. Castaway

In 1704, a Scottish sailor called Alexander Selkirk got into an argument with the leader of the ship he was sailing on, and was consequentially left on an uninhabited island, called Juan Fernandez, with very few possessions: a gun, a knife, minimal clothing, a Bible and a few tools. Selkirk spent four years on that very island, eating goats and shellfish and creating clothes out of goatskin. He was finally rescued in 1709, after which he became a minor celebrity and the inspiration for Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

6. Flatlined

On March 17th 2012, Bolton Wanderer’s star, Fabrice Muamba, collapsed mid-game due to sudden cardiac arrest. His heart stopped for a total of 78 minutes, and he was only kept alive by numerous defibrillations delivered by the paramedics who attended to him. He was taken to hospital where he immediately underwent surgery to implant an ICD - a small defibrillator installed beside the heart - to save his life if the same thing were to happen again.

7. Trapped under Ice

Anna Bagenholm slid down an ice gully while skiing in 2009, and fell into an icy stream headfirst., becoming wedged under 8 inches of ice. She managed to find a tiny air pocket from which to breathe while she waited for rescue. Two hours later she was removed from the stream, with a body temperature of 56.7˚F and no pulse. She was taken to hospital for her body to be warmed up, and three hours later, her heart miraculously began beating again. She has since made a full recovery.

Can you believe these!? Just reading about these amazing tales of survival astounds and inspires me. It is amazing to think that anything can survive these kinds of ordeals, and it goes to show that with the right amount of determination, we can survive just about anything. What is an amazing tale of survival you know?