Remember how you felt after finishing school? Yes, the torture is over and you can start
making plans to achieve all your goals; nothing can stop you now! That's probably how Juliane Koepcke felt too
after celebrating her school graduation on December 23 in 1971. But she had no idea what was waiting for her
the next day. So when 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke finished
her school in Lima, Peru, she went along with her mother to join her father at a research
station in the Amazon rainforest. The girl and her mother were really eager
to leave Lima as soon as possible and fly to Pucallpa, which was the nearest city to
that station, but almost all the flights were booked because of the holiday season. Their only option was airline LANSA, which
already had a bad reputation with two crashes on their record. However, they booked the only empty seats
for flight 508, not worried, considering the short one-hour duration of the flight. But after purchasing the tickets they still
had to wait for 7 hours because the flight was delayed due to bad weather. Finally, the plane took off in the afternoon
on December 24. At first, it was a smooth ride, but soon the
clouds started getting darker and darker and the turbulence got worse. Naturally, Koepcke began to feel anxious and
nervous just like all the other passengers, including her mother. Something was definitely wrong. After crossing the Andes at about 21,000 feet,
the plane got caught in the middle of a big storm with constant thunder and lightning. Suddenly the plane started jumping up and
down, parcels and luggage were falling from the lockers and flying around the cabin. Terrified and helpless, Koepcke grabbed her
mother's hand and closed her eyes. But a few minutes later, her eyes were jolted
open when a bolt of lightning struck the plane. Now the fuel tank was ignited and moments
later, one of the plane's wings was torn off. Before Juliane could understand what was happening,
the airliner went into a nose-dive and the cabin began tearing apart into pieces. Still strapped to her seat and hanging head-over-heels
she went into a 10,000 feet free-fall from the sky! The only noise she could hear was the whispering
of the wind, and she only saw the canopy of the jungle spinning toward her. The girl didn't remember anything about the
impact, but most likely the seat she was attached to and jungle foliage cushioned her plummet. Unbelievably, she survived the air crash. Now that's a real miracle! For the next 24 hours, Juliane faded in and
out of consciousness. After that, she finally managed to stay conscious
and started shouting out for her mother. However, she soon realized she was all alone
in the middle of the jungle. As if surviving the fall wasn't enough of
an ordeal, now she had to figure out how to make her way through the rainforest to find
help. In addition to that, Juliane’s collarbone
was broken and she had several deep cuts on her arms and legs. Despite those injuries, she started moving,
promising herself to get through this nightmare at all cost. While searching for food, she heard the hum
of a circling aircraft above her head. The plane crash prompted the biggest search
in Peru’s history, but the forest was so dense that aircrafts couldn’t spot the wreckage
from the crash, let alone a single person. After some time she stopped hearing the humming,
knowing for sure that no one was going to rescue her. Luckily, she found a bag of candies at the
crash site, which would be her only food for the next 10 days. But then she heard another sound that lifted
her spirit a bit – the dripping of running water. Now it's time to mention that Juliane was
actually pretty familiar with the jungle, because her father was a biologist who studied
Amazon wildlife. She spent quite a lot of time with him at
his research station and he taught her a lot of things about rainforest nature. Now she remembered when her father told her
that tracking downstream should eventually lead to civilization. Besides, she had water to quench her thirst. And so Juliane set out on her trek following
a tiny stream. As you can guess, it was anything but easy. The Amazon rainforest is full of dangers. Its home to hungry jaguars, black caimans
with their sharp teeth, and many poisonous snakes who are camouflaged to look like dry
leaves. To avoid stepping on one of them accidentally,
Juliane would test the area in front of her by throwing her only shoe ahead, then moving
forward to pick it up, and tossing it again. Also, she had to climb over huge logs and
masses of gnarled roots in her way. But the girl just kept walking, despite scorching
heat and hunger. It was rainy season in the Amazon, meaning
that there was no fruit to pick. And since she had no knife, she couldn’t
cut the palm hearts from the palm tree stems. Despite blistering sun at day, Juliane got
really cold during the chilly nights. Finally, after a few days of roaming in the
rainforest, she arrived at the bank of a large river. But there was no sign of anyone. It was disheartening for her, but she knew
she had to move on. Juliane walked through the shallow waters
at the edge of the river very carefully, knowing that stingrays liked to nest in these shallow
waters. She was going so slow at this pace, she decided
to swim out to the middle of the river instead. She knew stingrays stayed away from the deeper
water and only hoped she wouldn’t meet piranhas or alligators on her way. So she swam in the river at day and went back
to the shore at night to rest. But sleeping at night was no easy feat because
insects kept biting her, making her injuries even more painful. On the 10th day of her exhausting journey,
she finally saw something that made her think she was hallucinating – a big boat! Juliane couldn’t believe her eyes and even
touched it to make sure it wasn’t a mirage. There was no one near the boat, but the girl
noticed a beaten path the led up the riverbank. She followed it until she saw a hut with a
palm leaf roof. The hut was empty, but Juliane found an outboard
motor and a canister of gasoline there. She had a really deep wound on her arm, and
it was seriously infected to the point that there were maggots. The girl knew she had to get rid of them. Juliane remembered that once her father had
removed maggots from the family dog using diesel fuel to force them to the surface. So she poured some gasoline on her wound. Right away she felt intense pain because the
maggots tried to get further into her flesh. But she managed to pull them out. Completely exhausted, Juliane decided to spend
the night in the hut where she could finally get semi-decent sleep. The next day she woke to the sound of voices. There were several men outside. Again, she thought she was hallucinating but
the voices grew louder and eventually, the men entered the hut. Imagine how shocked Juliane was when she saw
them! They were startled too, however, because at
first they thought she was a kind of water goddess - a figure from a local legend who
is a hybrid of a water dolphin and a blonde, white-skinned woman. Juliane explained to three lumberjacks who
she was and what happened to her. They treated her wounds and gave her something
to eat. The next morning, they helped her get into
a canoe and took a ride downriver to a lumber station. After they reached the destination, a local
pilot flew the girl to the hospital where she finally got professional medical help. Soon her father arrived, and they were finally
reunited. While staying at the hospital, Juliane gave
information to the researchers that helped them locate the wreck. Sadly, she was the only one who survived the
crash. But this story is still an amazing example
that a person’s will to live is always stronger than the most terrible circumstances. What would you do if you got stuck in the
jungle for 11 days? Let everybody know in the comments below! Don't forget to give this video a “like,”
share it with your friends, and click “subscribe” to stay on the Bright Side of life!
