Top 10 People Who Survived The Impossible

Welcome to Top10Archive! Life is precious and can be taken from us without warning. While many people will meet an inevitable and unfortunate end, others find it in themselves to stare death in the face and emerge on the other side, scathed but alive. These ten incredible tales serve as a follow-up to the top 10 people who survived the impossible. 10. Jose Salvador Alvarenga It all started in 2012 with a routine fishing expedition when things turned sour for Jose Alvarenga. Amidst his journey, Jose’s ship blew off course during an incoming storm and he soon found himself powerless and without a working engine. He was left out to sea for over a year, some 438 days to be exact. Jose says he survived by eating fish, turtles and birds as well drinking his urine and animal blood for survival. Some think there’s more to his story as Jose also sailed with Ezequiel Cordoba, who didn’t survive the journey. Cordoba’s family filed a $1 million lawsuit against the survivor, claiming he ate his shipmate to survive. 9. Michael Benson Cameraman Michael Benson spent a terrifying two days inside an active volcano after his helicopter crashed. Search and Rescue sent helicopters to look for survivors - a lucky break for Michael and not a moment too soon. Benson said at the time he had hit his limit, no food or water mixed with sleepless nights had nearly defeated him. At one point, Michael claimed that he had seen the Hawaiian Fire Goddess, Pele. Rescuers finally came to save Benson and on his way out he proclaimed into the volcanic depths, "You didn't beat me!” 8. Beck Weathers On May 10th, 1996, Mount Everest experienced a heavy blizzard that proved deadly for the climbers on the North and South faces. Eight deaths in total occurred from the 10th to the 11th, but it’s a miraculous survival that spurs hope from tragedy. As part of a group of eight individuals in a guided climb, Beck Weathers found himself trapped at an altitude of around 27,000 feet or roughly 8,200 meters during a relentless blizzard. Believed to be near death and in a hypothermic coma, Weathers’ companions made him comfortable so he could pass away peacefully, but were shocked to find him still alive the following morning. Eventually, Weathers was finally escorted off the mountain. Through the ordeal, he lost his right arm, parts of his feet, and the fingers on his left hand. 7. Tsutomu Yamaguchi Thousands of people perished when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, but Tsutomu Yamaguchi was miraculously not one of them. The World War II survivor will forever be known as the Man that Survived Two Atomic Bombs, an absurd tale that starts with Yamaguchi leaving work to be with his family. At 8:15 on August 6th, 1945, the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Only 2 miles from ground zero, Yamaguchi survived, making his way through the destruction and death, eventually finding a working train to Nagasaki. Three days later, still weary from the bombing of Hiroshima, Yamaguchi was present for the second atomic bomb. Having survived both blasts, the effects of radiation started to take their toll. Despite festering wounds and chronic vomiting that seemed to spell certain doom, Yamaguchi’s health eventually recovered, and he would die at the age of 93 in January of 2010. 6. Lincoln Hall Australian mountain climber, Lincoln Hall, survived a horrible experience atop the world's tallest mountain. In 1984, Hall joined a team set to climb Everest - the first to attempt the journey without bringing oxygen. Hall failed to finish the climb, realizing it would potentially put him in the grave. Again in 2006, another opportunity arose and Hall viewed it as a means of redemption. Finally reaching the summit, he enjoyed it for roughly 20 minutes before being struck with cerebral edema. After 2 hours under its effects, Hall seemed lifeless. With no hope for the climber, the rest of the team left vowing to return for his body. The next day, another group of climbers making their way back down the mountain came across Hall, cross-legged and sitting upright. He was rescued, and would go on to live another 6-years before dying at the age of 56. 5. Reshma Begum A mother by the name of Reshma Begum survived 16 grueling days under the rubble of a collapsed eight-story factory. She said she survived off of dried food and a limited quantity of bottled water, though went the last two days going without sustenance. Reshma states that she “heard voices of the rescue workers for the past several days." With the sign of rescue at hand, she hit the rubble with stones and sticks trying to get the rescue team's attention, but nobody heard her. It wasn't until day 16 that a rescue working 15-year-old volunteer happened to hear Reshma's groans of despair, that led to her rescue. 4. Zoleykhah Kadkhoda In 1997 Iran, 20-year old Zoleykhah Kadkhoda was arrested and charged with "engaging in *** relations outside of marriage." Found guilty in this manner, she was immediately sentenced to death by stoning. After being buried from the waist down, her executors began stoning her. Local villagers spoke up, forcing the stoning to stop and took her body to the Bukan hospital. With her head and face severely damaged, it's said that those condemning her agreed to give her amnesty if she survived. Miraculously, she pulled through, and with the help of International pressure in the news, was able to get her death sentence lifted. 3. Wenseslao Moguel Rappers aren’t the only people that are bulletproof, or at least that’s what the story of Wenseslao Moguel tells us. Arrested and jailed for taking part in the Mexican Revolution in 1915, Moguel was denied a trial and was instantly sentenced to execution via firing squad. The squad lined up in front of her, firing off nine rounds, one of which struck her in the head. Somehow through force of will, Moguel survived and had even made an appearance on Ripley's Believe It Or Not. 2. Vesna Vulovic In 1972, flight attendant Vesna Vulovic was on a Yugoslav Airlines DC-9 flight heading towards Copenhagen when an explosion shredded the aircraft to pieces over Czechoslovakia. Rescue workers came across the crash’s only survivor. Vulovic was discovered lying in a portion of the plane's tail, injured, mangled, and paralyzed from the waist down. Some time later she recovered from amnesia and even regained her ability to walk over a tiring recuperation process. 1. Frane Selak To take this number one spot, poor Frane Selak had to have a run-in with death on multiple occasions – seven different times, to be exact. Over the course of his life, Selak survived a train accident that claimed 17 lives, a plane accident where 19 died, and a bus accident that killed four. Selak’s misfortune wasn’t over yet, as, in 1970 and 1973, his car caught fire, nearly exploding with him in it. The list continues in 1995 with Selak being struck by a bus and just barely avoiding a head-on collision that sent him careening over a cliff. If not for the dumb luck and quick reflexes that had him catch onto a tree branch at just the right time, Selak would have tumbled with his car to his death. In 2003, the old man’s luck shifted gears when he struck gold with the million-dollar lottery, which he doled out to family and friends.