Survival Stories
Remarkable Tales of Survival: From Amazon Jungle to Remote Australia
In a remarkable testament to human resilience, four indigenous children from the Huioto community in Colombia were rescued after spending forty days in the inhospitable Amazon jungle. The children, aged 13, nine, four, and 11 months, endured torrential rains, dangerous wildlife, and the presence of armed groups, emerging malnourished and covered in insect bites, but alive and without serious harm.
The youngest child even celebrated his first birthday amidst the dense foliage of the jungle. Their survival has been hailed as a “miracle” by Colombians.
“Education from their grandmother may have been vital to their survival,” said John Moreno, an Indigenous leader from nearby Vaupes.
In 1965, another extraordinary tale of survival unfolded when six schoolboys, aged between 13 and 16, were stranded on a rocky island south of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean for over a year. The boys, who had initially set out on a fishing trip, survived a storm and drifted for eight days without food, subsisting on rainwater collected in coconut shells, before washing ashore on the small island of ‘Ata.
By the time rescuers arrived 15 months later, the boys had established a functioning commune complete with a food garden, rainwater collection system, chicken pens, and a permanent fire. They had organized themselves into pairs, each responsible for garden, kitchen, and guard duties, and survived on a diet of fish, coconuts, tame birds, and eggs.
However, for Sione Filipe Totau, one of the stranded boys, the experience was far from a thrilling adventure.
“We [were] not happy where we [were],” Totau, known as Mano, told the Guardian in 2020. “If you were on a place, you don’t know where it is, and also you did not see any part of your family, I don’t think you’d be happy to be there … you won’t be happy until you see your family.”
In 2018, the world was gripped by the story of 12 young footballers and their coach who were trapped inside a flooded cave in Thailand for 18 days. The boys, aged between 11 and 17, and their 25-year-old coach, a former monk, survived on an elevated rock four kilometers from the cave mouth, with little food but sustained by meditation and the hope of rescue.
It took divers nine days to locate the team inside the six-mile Tham Luang cave in the Doi Nang Non mountain range, and another nine days to guide them to safety, a feat that cost two rescuers their lives.
In a different kind of survival story, seven-year-old Yamato Tanooka was left by his parents as a brief punishment on the side of a road in a Japanese forest. Believing he had been abandoned, Yamato ventured into the bear-infested woodland and survived nearly a week before being found by soldiers seeking shelter from the rain.
Yamato had managed to find an unlocked hut in a self-defence force training compound, where he stayed warm by squeezing between two mattresses at night. Despite not having eaten for almost a week, he was calm when found.
“He was incredibly calm considering he had been missing for seven days. He didn’t panic at all,” said the doctor who assessed him after his ordeal.
Ken Noguchi, a mountaineer who has climbed Mount Everest, tweeted: “If he survived by himself, it’s a miracle.”
In December 2022, a five-year-old girl in remote Western Australia performed an “absolute miracle” when she saved her two younger brothers, aged one and two, after a car crash that killed their parents. The girl managed to free the one-year-old from his seatbelt, while the two-year-old remained trapped for over two days.
The children waited beside their deceased parents for 55 hours in 30-degree heat before being found by family friends.
Michael Read, a cousin of the father who died, said it was difficult to imagine what the children would have been going through inside that vehicle. He described the five-year-old girl as a “bright kid, smart, intelligent, [who] absolutely loves cooking and playdough”.
Our Thoughts
The tales of survival shared in this article are nothing short of miraculous. Human resilience, ingenuity, and the will to survive are on full display here, particularly in the case of the indigenous children from Huioto community.
Their survival, despite the harsh conditions in the Amazon jungle, is a testament to the survival skills passed down through generations.
The story of the six schoolboys stranded on an island is another example of humans’ remarkable ability to adapt and survive in challenging conditions. Despite their ordeal, they managed to establish a functioning commune, demonstrating resourcefulness and organization skills beyond their years.
The harrowing experience of the young footballers trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand, and the seven-year-old boy surviving alone in a Japanese forest, underscore the importance of mental resilience in survival situations.
Finally, the five-year-old girl who saved her younger brothers after a car crash in remote Western Australia exemplifies the courage and determination that can emerge even in the most dire circumstances.
These stories are a reminder that survival is not just about physical strength or having the right gear, but also about mental fortitude, resourcefulness, and the will to keep going.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.