(no subject)
ok.
you reckon you've had a bad day ... ?
well ... check this out.
i just heard this story from a TV show called 'I Shouldn't Be Alive' ...
Greg Rasmussen worked for a wildlife conservation group, specifically looking at saving the Painted Dog from extinction ... he was living and working in Zimbabwe, out in the middle of nowhere ... one day, starting as any other day, he had the worst day of his life.
at approx. 6:30am, he received word that there was a Rhino 'nearby' ... so he jumped into his plane and took off, scouring the area ... where the Rhino was reported to be was a particularly 'hostile' piece of land ... it was bushy, rocky, and harsh ... the day was, not surprisingly, hot. the air was thin -- which apparently makes it harder to keep a plane in the air ...
he found the Rhino ... as he was circling to take another look, confirm the position, whatever ... he suddenly experienced what is known as 'Wing Stall' ... the wings experience 'increased air resistance' (turbulence) which leads to decreased lift ... when you get decreased lift in a small aircraft, and you're not that high off the ground to start with ... it aint good.
so ... the plane descends in a spiral, the earth getting closer and closer ... faster and faster ... and then ... impact.
when Greg regains consciousness, his first thought is ... "i'm alive. i'm alive." ... then, the first thing he notices is ... petrol dripping onto his face. terrifying. he drags his body out of the plane (for some reason, his legs refuse to work) and over to prop himself up against the one tree that's close to his plane ...
he's on a plain in the middle of Africa, with who knows what animals around ... except, he's a biologist who's been living in the area for quite a while ... so he knows exactly what animals are around ... scorpions, snakes, elephants, lions, hyenas ... the list goes on.
then ... he remembers that the only possible hope he has of letting anyone know where he is ... is back in the plane. the radio. mayday.
he drags himself back to the plane and reaches for the radio ... the handset is extremely hot. the plane crash has caused everything to fry out, the batteries, the radio, everything. the radio is useless. completely useless. he's dragged himself back to this petrol soaked plane ... for nothing.
mustering up an incredible amount of strength, like a turtle on it's back, he drags himself away again, back to the tree ... away from the potential fireball of the plane.
he realises that there's something wrong with his legs, because he can feel the tightness of swelling in his boots (that, and the insane pain) ... so he attempts to take his boots off ... only, he can't actually bend to reach his boots ... 'luckily', the tree he's dragged himself under, happens to be a Thorn Tree, predictably, with thorns all over it.
he breaks a stick off this tree, and uses the thorns to pull at his bootlaces, and undo the double knot at the top ... this does nothing. he realises he's going to have to direct the bootlaces out through every eyelet of the boots.
two and a half hours later, he finishes, and he uses a nearby branch to push his boots off. this causes minor relief (somewhere inside that agony), and slows down the potential of gangrene and future amputation.
he's sitting out in the full sun of the African wild, listening to this petrol dripping from his plane, and dehydrating fast. he realises he has to get out of the sun, and get out of the sun now.
the only shade around, though, is the wreckage of his plane. "fire or no fire. i gotta get back, and i've gotta face that plane again."
he turns his body around, and tries pulling himself back to the plane on his back. every single movement causes him extreme agony -- every single bone in both of his legs is broken.
he has no energy left, doesn't know how he's going to manage to get back to the plane. suddenly, he flashes back to one of his Zoology lectures about reptiles, and remembers that it will take him a lot less energy to drag himself if he can get himself onto his stomach, and pull himself along like the front half of a crocodile.
so. he's on his back, with two severely broken legs, a stick, and two bootlaces. aware that anything he does is going to cause him pain.
he puts the stick against his leg, and wraps the bootlaces around them both ... bracing himself, he pulls himself over onto his stomach by pulling the bootlace across his body, forcing the stick to push his legs over. as he does so, he hears a crack.
his pelvis just broke.
now, he's out in the full African sun with two severely broken legs, and a badly broken pelvis. he's still some distance from his plane, and it's still dripping petrol.
by now, it's about 2pm. as a wildlife expert, and having lived in Africa for several years, he knew the sound of every footfall any animal might make. he's terrified by what might happen.
he's getting closer to the plane, when ... he hears elephants. and he hears elephants getting closer. he's now terrified of getting trampled. an elephant lets out a massive screech as it senses him and his plane. he freezes, knowing that there's nothing he can do.
he listens, frozen on his stomach ... and he realises that the elephants have retreated, sensing something odd, and not willing to confront it.
by 4pm, he makes it to the shade of the plane. he rests, getting some energy back, when he hears footfall, again ... only this time, it's ... lion footfall. and it's getting closer.
then he hears a distinctive call ... a lioness, calling to her cubs. a protective mother. dangerous.
the lioness moves closer ... and Greg prepares himself, taking on an idea he's learned from the animals. the lioness gets even closer, until he can see the silhouette of the animal in the grass.
Greg uses his stick to bang against the plane, startling the lioness and causing her to retreat.
at 5pm, he hears the sound of a plane ... but he doesn't see it ... and they don't see him.
the plane fades away ... and it's heading towards nightfall. a time when the predators are more active.
then ... because of the broken bones in his legs, and therefore the reduced blood flow, his muscles flood with lactic acid causing incredibly painful muscle spasms. and, as his muscles spasm, the broken bones of his legs stab into the muscles. agony.
6:30pm. he's been in the bush, missing, for 12 hours. night has fallen. and with this, comes a sense of peace. Greg reconciles with the possibility of Death. he's ready to switch off, and let it end.
then, his mood suddenly shifts, and he realises there is more he can do with his life ... from this moment on, his fight is back.
he's spending the night waiting for sunrise ... and suddenly, he hears footfall. his worst nightmare. hyena footfall.
he waits ... hearing the footfalls come closer and closer. he waits, and waits. hearing the snarl, and the accompanying footfall. he waits until the last moment he can bear ... and then he bangs his stick against the plane again. the hyena is startled and runs away. Greg listens for the footfall and is rewarded with it's sound moving away.
the sun rises ... for a moment he rejoices, freed from the night. and then he realises that the unrelenting heat and light is back.
by now, he's been out there for 24 hours. he has no water, and is seriously injured. he grabs a broken piece of windscreen trying to lick any moisture off it.
at 10:30am, he hears a plane again. he waves a piece of the wreckage up in the air, unaware if they can see him. the sun catches the piece of pipe, and glints a ray up into the eye of a spotter on the plane. they've seen him.
but he doesn't know this ... he waits.
and then, he hears footfall.
human footfall. he is saved. after 28 hours lost in the African wild, he is rescued.
he survives. his legs lose 3 inches, he's been through multiple operations, and had to learn how to walk again, but he's alive.
...
your day is nothing.