Death is inevitable. We mortals cannot escape it. It will come when it comes. However, there are people who survive the most deadly situations, fighting death. In some cases, they cheat death and escape the most dire circumstances. They remain calm and use their intellect to find a way out. Even after struggling, suffering grievous injuries, and returning from the brink of death, they survive. Here is a list of ten people who cheated death in the most spectacular ways.
1. Peter Freuchen
Peter was an Arctic explorer who once found himself caught in a snowstorm, burying him in a thick layer of snow. Even after hours of struggling to extricate himself from the snow, Freuchen eventually carved a knife from his frozen feces and used it as a chisel to dig his way out.
Peter Freuchen was an Arctic explorer, anthropologist, writer, and journalist, standing 2 meters 10 centimeters tall. In the 1910s, he wore a huge polar bear fur coat and traveled 1,000 kilometers across Greenland by dog sled. In 1926, after losing his original prosthetic leg to frostbite, he received a prosthetic leg. He even amputated his own toes with pliers. He escaped the Nazi death sentence and killed a wolf with his bare hands. In his biography «The Viking Tramp» His entire life's work is described. He wrote more than 12 books and even starred in an Oscar-winning film based on one of his novels.
A Danish explorer was once caught in a snowstorm, so completely encased in ice and snow that he couldn't even move. After lying in a snowdrift for thirty hours, he extricated himself from the dense snow using a knife made from his own frozen feces. Thus, he once again escaped death and made it out. Furthermore, he crawled for another three hours to reach base camp. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71 in 1957, three days after writing his final book. (source)
2. Roy Benavidez
Roy Benavidez, a Medal of Honor recipient, was attacked by a Vietnam People's Army infantry battalion. He suffered 37 stab wounds, his intestines were exposed, his jaw was broken, and his eyes were bloodshot. He was presumed dead until he spat in the face of the doctor who was putting him in a body bag.
On May 2, 1968, 1,000 Vietnam People's Army infantrymen surrounded a 12-man Special Forces patrol, including nine Montagnard tribesmen. Staff Sergeant Roy Benavides was monitoring radio communications when he heard a call for help. Carrying a medical kit and a single knife, Benavides exited a helicopter to assist the patrol. Shortly after entering enemy territory, a Vietnam People's Army soldier bayoneted him. Benavides drew his bayonet and killed the attacker with his own knife.
After the battle, Benavidez was presumed dead, suffering from 37 stab wounds, an exposed intestine, a broken jaw, and bloodshot eyes. Just as the examining doctor was about to close the body bag, Benavidez spat blood in his face, indicating his survival. After six hours of courageous combat and recovery from his wounds, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and four Purple Hearts. (source)
3. Leonard Graham Fuller
During training, Leonard Graham Fuller's plane collided with another aircraft in mid-air. The two aircraft became entangled, forming a makeshift biplane. Leonard managed to land both planes safely, with no casualties.
On September 29, 1940, two Avro Anson aircraft from the 2nd Royal Australian Air Force Training School departed Forest Hill for a training mission over southern New Wales. The route included locations such as Corowa and Narrandera before returning to Forest Hill.
The pilot of aircraft number N4876 was Senior Mechanic Leonard Graham Fuller. He was accompanied by Senior Mechanic Menzies Sinclair. The pilot of aircraft number L9162 was Senior Mechanic Jack Ingalls Hewson. He was accompanied by Senior Mechanic Hugh Gavin Fraser. While banking at 1,000 meters, Fuller lost sight of Hewson's aircraft, and the two aircraft collided. The two aircraft remained tethered, forming a makeshift biplane. Furthermore, Fuller made a pancake-stack landing a few kilometers southwest of Brocklesby. The two tethered aircraft skidded 180 meters across the grass before coming to a stop. There were no casualties. (source)
4. Darko Sangermano
Darko was shot in the head with a .22 caliber pistol. The bullet didn't cause any serious damage. In fact, it lodged in his nose, and he later sneezed it out of his nostril.
In 2011, Darko Sangermano was walking with his girlfriend through the streets of Naples, Italy, when a .22-caliber bullet struck him in the temple. The 28-year-old was bleeding profusely and was taken to the hospital for surgery. The bullet entered the right side of his head, piercing his eyeball, slowing its progress. It came to rest in his nasal passage. While waiting for doctors to arrive, he sneezed, spitting the bullet out through his right nostril. However, surgeons removed bone fragments struck by the bullet and performed laser surgery to repair the damaged parts of his eye. The injured artisan from Turin returned to his hometown after being released from the hospital. (source)
5. Poon Lim
After Puna's ship was sunk by a submarine, he survived 133 days at sea on an eight-square-foot raft. He survived by fishing, drinking bird blood, and killing sharks with a jug of water.
During World War II, Poon Lim was second steward on a British armed merchant ship. SS Benlomond. Poon Lim was born on Hainan Island, China. The armed vessel was slowly moving without convoy from Cape Town to Paramaribo, Suriname, and then to New York. On November 23, 1942, a German submarine U-172 attacked Benlomond The ship was hit by two torpedoes approximately 750 miles from the Amazon River. The vessel sank within two minutes. However, Poon Lim was one of six survivors, jumping from the ship in time wearing a life jacket.
After two hours of floating, Lim found and climbed onto an eight-foot-square raft containing food and other survival gear. Poon Lim survived on the raft's food and water supplies. However, to survive, he also had to catch fish and drink the blood of birds. He caught sharks using birds as bait and killed them with a half-filled jug of water. To quench his thirst, he also sucked the blood from shark livers. After 133 days and losing nine pounds, Poon Lim reached shore, where he was rescued by three Brazilian fishermen. (source)
6. Osip Bernstein
Chess grandmaster Bernstein was sentenced to death by the Bolsheviks in 1918. However, a superior officer offered him the opportunity to prove his identity in a game of chess. He defeated the officer and was released.
Osip Samoilovich Bernstein was a Russian-French financial lawyer and renowned chess grandmaster. In 1918, the Bolshevik secret police arrested Osip Bernstein in Odessa. He was sentenced to death for acting as a legal advisor to bankers. However, a superior officer first asked to see a prisoner list. After reading Bernstein's name, the officer asked if he really was a chess grandmaster. Even after he answered affirmatively, the officer offered him a saving grace – a chess game. If Bernstein lost or the game ended in a draw, he would be shot, but if he won, he would be released. As a result, Bernstein won the game against the officer, escaped death, and later settled in Paris. (source)
7. Aishat Maksudova
Aishat, a 56-year-old grandmother, fought a wolf and killed it with an axe. She said: «"The wolf grabbed my left arm, pulled it, pushed it away like this. And then I grabbed the axe and hit him on the head.".
Ayshat Maksudova, a 56-year-old woman from the village of Novo Biryuzyak, was herding sheep and cows with a group of villagers. Suddenly, a wolf attacked a calf, and Ayshat heard its scream. Trying to save the calf, she collided with the wolf. She recounted the incident: "I wasn't even scared. I was standing like this, holding the axe like this. And suddenly the wolf, its mouth open, jumped on me. It jumped like this. The wolf sank its claws into my leg, and I wanted to hit it with the axe." While the wolf was biting Ayshat's left arm, she struck it with the axe she was holding, right in the wolf's head. The wolf died, and Ayshat was immediately taken to the hospital. (source)
8. Hugh Glass
Explorer Hugh Glass reset his own broken leg and allowed fly maggots to feast on his gangrenous flesh after being attacked by a grizzly bear and left for dead. Furthermore, he crawled 200 miles to the nearest settlement, where he received treatment for deep, festering wounds.
Hugh Glass was an American explorer, trader, trapper, and pioneer born in Pennsylvania in 1783. In 1823, he joined an expedition up the Missouri River with William Ashley and Andrew Henry. Near the confluence of the Grand River in present-day South Dakota, Hugh disturbed a grizzly bear and its two cubs. The bear attacked Hugh, biting him and tearing his flesh. Using only a knife and his bare hands, Hugh managed to kill the bear. However, his wounds were severe. Hugh's companions carried him for two days but eventually abandoned him when their exploration slowed and they realized Hugh would not survive his injuries.
Hugh eventually came to and found himself alone and unarmed. He had festering wounds, a broken leg, and deep cuts on his back. He reset his leg bone himself, wrapped himself in a bearskin, and crawled about 200 miles to the nearest American settlement, Fort Kiowa, on the Missouri River. He also allowed fly maggots to feed on the infected flesh to prevent gangrene. Furthermore, Hugh built a raft and crossed the Cheyenne River. It took him six weeks to reach Fort Kiowa, surviving on roots and berries along the way. (source)
9. Salamo Aruch
Jewish boxer Salamo Aruch, a prisoner at Auschwitz, was forced to fight other prisoners for the Nazis' amusement. Those who lost were shot. He survived 200 fights, of which only two ended in a draw.
Salamo Arousch was a Greek-born boxer born in 1923 in Greece. He became the Greek middleweight champion in 1938 and the Balkan middleweight champion in 1939. On May 15, 1943, Salamo Arousch arrived at Auschwitz with his family. Salamo recounted, "I stood naked all night until the next day. The Nazis washed us with water, disinfected us, shaved our heads, and painted numbers on our forearms." Soon after, the camp commandant asked if there was a boxer among the prisoners. Salamo raised his hand. Salamo was then assigned to fight other prisoners for the Nazis' entertainment. With only two draws, Salamo survived and won all 200 remaining bouts. The losers were shot. As the winner, Mr. Arousch escaped forced labor and worked as a clerk.
On January 27, 1945, the Allied army liberated Auschwitz. Salamo began searching for his relatives and met Marta Yechiel, a teenager from his hometown. He married her, and they had four children and twelve grandchildren. In fact, Salamo's life served as the basis for the film. «Triumph of the Spirit» , released in 1989. (source)
10. Joan Murray
During a jump, skydiver Joan Murray's parachute failed, and she fell at 128 kilometers per hour and landed on a nest of fire ants. The ants stung her more than 200 times, sending her adrenaline rushing and making her heart race.
Joan Murray, born in 1955, is an American banking executive and skydiver. On September 25, 1999, she jumped from 14,500 feet, where her main parachute failed to open. Even when her secondary parachute opened at 700 feet, it quickly deflated. She was hurtling toward the ground at an incredible 80 mph (128 kilometers per hour) and fell into an anthill. However, the stings of more than 200 ants triggered a surge of adrenaline in her system and caused her heart to race. Although she survived, the force of the fall crushed the right side of her body. She also spent two weeks in a coma. She fully recovered after 20 reconstructive surgeries and 17 blood transfusions. In 2001, she made her 37th skydive. (source)