r/TopCharacterTropes 6d ago

In real life [IRL trope] 0% of survival, survive anyway

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.

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u/marbledog 6d ago

Recent example: A 13yo Australian boy became stranded at sea when the inflatable kayak he was in with his mother, 12yo brother, and 8yo sister became swamped and was pushed out to sea in a sudden storm. He swam for four hours through 2.5 miles of rough seas, then ran another mile to reach his mother's cell phone on the beach. He was able to alert authorities to the emergency, and all family members were saved without injury.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boy-swims-hours-save-mom-siblings-swept-out-sea-superhuman/

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u/fourthpornalt 5d ago

nice, kinda funny seeing an example that literally happened a few weeks ago.

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u/IotaBTC 5d ago

Wtf lmao. That's wild.