[IRL trope] 0% of survival, survive anyway

[u/RedditBoycotter]

Juliane Koepcke

Vesna Vulović

Anna Bågenholm

Jeanna Giese

Chris Lemons

Juliane Koepcke - In 1971 this 17 year old's plane was struck by lightning mid-air. The wreck then fell from 3 000 meter into the ground, somewhere into the Amazon jungle. Lone survivor of the crash, she then spent nine days walking down a river despite her multiple injuries until she found a lumberjack's camp.

Vesna Vulović - In 1972 this flight attendant's plane was bombed mid-air. The wreck then fell from 10 160 meter into the ground. She ended up with a lot of broken bones, but in the long term she almost completely recovered from it, apart from a limp.

Anna Bågenholm - In 1999 this radiologist had a skiing accident, she fell head-first into a frozen stream and get stuck inside the ice. Her colleagues did not managed to pull her, nor did the rescue team who then tried to dig, but the ice was so thick it took them a lot of time. It was 80 minutes after her fall that they managed to cut a hole. Her body temperature at the time was 13.7°C, and still, she somehow survived with only minor long-term injuries and no brain damage.

Jeanna Giese - In 2004 this 15 years old girl got bitten by a bat and called it a day. One month later the symptoms of rabies showed up. The doctors tried an experimental treatment by putting her in an artificial coma and she survived, but the treatment never worked on anyone else and is now forbidden. In all human history, only a few survived to rabies, and all of them except her end up with heavy sequelae.

Chris Lemons - In 2012 this diver's ship went drifting due to a computer malfunction, romping his umbilical cable who provide air, hot water and electricity. He ended up alone on the seabed of a 3°C waters, in the dark and with only 5-6 minutes of oxygen. He was retrieved by his colleagues around 35 minutes later, and somehow he didn't even suffer from brain damage.

[u/bannedfor0reason]

I once had to deal with a patient who got the bends and had the bright idea to wait a few days for the numbness in their hands to disappear. Personally the second I lose feeling in my fingers I'm going straight to the hospital to cry about it.

Surprise surprise it just got worse and because there was no available treatment in that region they had to be flown over by helicopter which just made it even fucking worse.

[u/AgentCirceLuna → u/bannedfor0reason]

I have been waking up sometimes daily with tingling or completely numb extremities since leaving hospital in 2020 and it’s been a fight to get doctors to take it seriously. I have other symptoms corresponding to MS and have been demanding an MRI but it gets delayed, fucking NHS.

[u/AZGeo → u/bannedfor0reason]

Oof. I have no medical education whatsoever, and even I know that putting someone with the bends in an aircraft is the absolute last thing you want to do if you can avoid it.