These Men Were Left For Dead After Their Plane Crash Landed | I Shouldn't Be Alive S3 EP7 | Wonder

you you a plane carrying ecologist over the heart of a progressed suddenly goes out of control I had 15 seconds to say I had a good life it crashes leaving three men with serious life-threatening injuries exposed to the harshest of elements with little hope of rescue their only chance of survival is for one of them to Wharf for help at all one today if he didn't get truth we're all gonna die but the mercy of the same animals they're trying to save I really felt that this was it how long can they survive in such a hostile environment [Music] Oh [Music] it's early in the morning and a group of ecologists are about to go on a special charter flight they'll be flying into one of the remotest parts of Central Africa the lawanna Valley in Zambia Graham child from Zimbabwe is leading the team I worked all over the world but my real love is the central part of Africa you have fantastic wildlife Clive English has flown over from the UK especially to work with Graham the chance to do this work where somebody like Graham who was just a real opportunity that nobody would ever ever turn down good morning tower this is Romeo Delta F screen lovely morning Sun in our eyes and inner ear of the team has hired pilot Adam Pope who knows the region world it is very spectacular it's very remote and kind of pristine wilderness everyone was quite pasta I don't think Mambo was quite so keen he'd never flown an airplane before Zambian Mambo cha congoo is here to provide the men with local knowledge okay yes the men are planning to establish a Conservation Park in the area and the aim of this morning is to spot large herds of buffalo as we flew around we saw about six or seven elephants we're really looking for Buffalo they are usually quite plentiful but I wasn't finding them he said let's go in and see what we can find they're flying towards a wetland area where Buffalo might gather but this means flying in close to a huge escarpment rockface we had to get him quite close to the sis Cartman to be able to have a look at them properly they were travelling quite fast the closer they get to the escarpment the more turbulent the air becomes I noticed that the airplane seem to be descending [Music] then suddenly the air sucked the plane downwards [Music] you get these vortexes that come off the ridge we'd flown into one of those but full-throttle atom attempts to pull the plane up over the oncoming escarpment to escape the vortex I was trying to keep the aeroplane going at maximum revs to keep the nose up the store warning came on this is bad news I know this is really bad news we're in serious trouble it seemed like we were not going to get over-the-top just seconds before impact Adam manages to bank the plane I've managed to get the wings level but we were going down what happened is that the United we just blasted [Music] I had about 10 or 15 seconds to say I had a good life [Music] and then we hit the plane is shattered on impact all four men are trapped inside the fuselage [Music] I woke up and the first thing I knew one had to do with these situations is get out of the airplane tada you know it wasn't really aware of where I was I must have been somehow or where that the right way out was on my right pilot Adam struggles to free himself from the wreckage he's in for a shock I landed on the wing and but then Nina there's this huge pain shoots through your whole body like an electric shock and I immediately knew I'd broken my back adam has escaped the burning fuselage but he's now helpless on the wing where the fuel for the plane is stormed as fuel leaks closer to the flames we still had significant amount of fuel on board and I was lying on it the smallest drop could ignite the fuel tanker turning the plane and all four men into a fireball thank you lumber scrambles clear but Clive is still inside the wreckage I remember waking up first thing I saw was Adam lying on the wing I smell aviation fuel I thought I had to get out of here it was hot and it was horrible and it was his carnage everywhere there was a very steep slope and I just rolled down the hill the plane is a ticking time bomb ready to explode with Adam stuck on the wing I was scared the I thought this is not good there was flame coming out of the engine there was a fair amount of fuel leaking from the wing feels very very explosive stuff and the slightest spark or flame at the whole thing Bibles the slightest contact and the whole thing will blow and there's nothing I can do about it [Music] [Applause] miraculously the fire burns out the most immediate danger is over five but like Adam Clive was seriously injured and unable to move I just have this terrible pain as if someone had stuck something into my back mm-hmm I was just writhing on the ground looking for a position that would give me some relief on impact Clive spine was twisted backwards and his vertebrae crushed together despite fracturing his back he's managed to roll 70 feet away from the pole I felt a little bit guilty that somehow I'd panicked because a fear of explosion had just tried to run away from that space as I could Clive has no idea if his colleagues have survived I could see the plane but I couldn't really see any detail I couldn't see Adam I could just see the plane from where I was lying five [Music] I'm on the way I kept calling to Adam he just kept asking me if I was alright and I said yeah yeah I'm okay I knew that Clyde was alive but in serious pain while Adam and climb above injured him Moomba is lucky enough to have survived relatively unscathed but gray was still missing I couldn't see or hear anything from Graham at all and I thought he was dead I mean I really didn't think he was dead a check check on Graeme um but is he okay Mamba is he okay Graham has taken the full impact of the crash [Music] is he okay his foot his foot is hanging off but he's alive yes he's breathing so that was a huge relief gram is the most severely injured of them all in shock he doesn't grasp the full horror of what has happened I knew my back was damaged and I knew my feet were damaged but I didn't realize now that adrenaline is numbing creams pain when I look down my one foot was badly damaged with my leg bones sticking out I could see out of one eye a little bit and everything was blooding up very fast to add to his misery Graham can barely hear the other men his hearing aid has been lost in the crash [Music] have you had bird I'm afraid I can't feel my legs I couldn't move my legs then I I realized that you know I was I was paralyzed you're lying then you're a pilot you are responsible you know these guys are your responsibility and I was thinking oh you know crane is in dire straits you know he needs help we need to make radio contact we need to contact look Sokka okay Norma you need to switch the radio on it's a massive risk with the plane soaked in fuel one spark from the radios electrics could trigger an explosion and kill them all but it's their only hope so we turned the radio on and you can't hit you can hear it click Mayday Mayday can you hear me [Music] Mayday Mayday can you hear me Mayday Mayday can you hear me I was lying on one wing crane was lying underneath the other thing and I mean we would have been Fievel mama turn it off now I said this is crazy you know we've got electrics flying around and let's turn it off forget it it's not going to work [Music] their only means of communication is damaged beyond repair the four men are now stranded in one of the remotest areas of Central Africa with no idea if anyone even knows that they've crashed would anybody be missing us is anybody going to come and look for us and how would they ever ever find us in this place [Music] they now face a new danger exposure to the blistering african temperatures which can rise to over a hundred degrees the Sun just bearing down on you you couldn't get out of it you were exposed certainly filters of house burning three hours since the crash the intense heat and lack of water is beginning to take its toll on the man it was so hot that we all needed water very badly without water the men will soon begin to suffer extreme dehydration you can survive that food for ages and ages but you can't survive without water for very long I wanted Mamba to go into the trees and see if he could find some water but he didn't want to go into the trees you need to find water ok what he was definitely afraid almost certainly he was in shock and traumatized you didn't want to come over please mama to find water Mumba must venture alone into the bush but he knows it's also home to dangerous predators he definitely had a strong fear of wild animals and we are in a game management area where there was a lot of game [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I was sort of left in the clearing by myself I'm sort of listening for him I was concerned for his welfare eventually mama returns I've managed to find a stream well when Moomba came back and said doc I've managed to find some water then that was fantastic [Music] Moomba was the hair of the moment I mean he really was the water brings only temporary relief to the men as the Sun Goes Down it's no longer the heat that's a danger now it's the African night where temperatures can rapidly drop close to freezing [Music] since they'd originally planned to be back by lunch the men addressed only in light clothing and are now at serious risk of hypothermia a problem with us was that we were completely exposed to the sky it was quite quite cold Graham was a constant source of concern he was older and he had this horrific broken leg I wasn't sure whether that my foot was savable or not [Music] [Applause] Graham is at real risk of developing gangrene in his severed foot but his pain is so severe he's drifting in and out of consciousness member lights of fire but at a safe distance from the fuel so planed it brings no comfort to Grampa Adam what does that there were animals around my greatest concern was a hyena coming in and smelling my blood 19 is like bloody bits of meat to chew quite a lot of noises [Music] [Music] life it's something naughty [Music] [Applause] and then it suddenly shot off it was a long night Adam knows that the threat of animals and the brutal temperatures mean the men will not survive for long I did feel guilt I was a pilot and as the pilot you are ultimately responsible for the safety of all your passengers he must come up with a plan I was thinking somehow you've got to get them out of here alive the chances of of us being found are very very remote no one's coming no one knows for yeah we need you to go and find help I said look you know the survival a lot of people depends on this but but I don't have his number we need help it was a question of of trying to reassure him that within him he had the ability to go and do this thing and that he wasn't gonna be eaten by a lion or trampled by an elephant it's too dangerous animals out there wild animals Mumma you have to cut lumber face is a stark choice to search for help alone in the dangerous African wilderness or stay with his colleagues and watch them slowly die [Music] Adamas asked me to go and look for help I told him it was too dangerous but he insisted I don't know what to do Adam wouldn't ask you if he had a choice he was very reluctant to go he was clearly afraid definitely he was afraid I don't want to die you have to be strong I said to him if you don't go then you'll probably be left sitting here with three dead people if you go we have a chance I [Music] don't know I'm going to sleep tonight it's dawn the time has come for Mamba to leave but he has one vital task to complete before he can go every drop of water he can collect it could be the difference between life and death for his injured colleagues [Music] we had no radio there was no other way we could get out Moomba was really our only hope of getting any salvation [Music] thanks mom I'm going now it's a brave thing your day [Music] good luck man here to I wasn't at all sure that he was going to have enough courage to go through with it I thought that he'd come back again and say that you know he just couldn't slowly but surely he sort of moved out of the clearing and disappeared into the trees adam has directed number two where he believes there's a village I thought that if he just followed that stream he'd find habitation that there'd be people there if Adam is right number may be able to reach help in a matter of hours [Applause] as every augment passed I thought well though this is good you know he probably is giving it a crack but number is unaware that he's actually heading in the wrong direction deeper into the African bush and further away from the village the supply of water member left behind will only last a few hours once it runs out they'll have no means of collecting anymore without water it will be a matter of hours before severe dehydration will take its toll their survival depends on Mumba there was no response for the whole of the day I was wondering how to eat passed out along the way from exhaustion or something like that after five hours lumber has still not returned the Manor on their last few drops of water in a young lips are cracked and sawed and and your tongue intense the thicket water was absolutely fundamental to our survival in these conditions a healthy person will die within three days from dehydration but having experienced extreme physical trauma the weakened men are even more vulnerable it's now only a matter of time before they'll die in the unforgiving African Sun with member gone I realized I would have to try and find where the water was I would have to find a way to move but with fractured vertebrae Clive has been unable to move since the crash I really didn't know how he's going to do that any kind of movement it was very painful I started Riggle along the ground and just sort of pushed my way through the vegetation literally that was extremely painful he doesn't realize that with every movement he's risking permanent paralysis [Music] yeah suddenly I could hear trickling water I found a cool clear spring of absolutely crystal-clear water I just put my head in there and just just drank it was absolutely magical [Music] nature was providing us with a real lifeline [Music] clive finally reaches grab it's the first time he's seen him since the crash but he's shocked by what he sees so i was a pretty emotional moment actually to see that he would when he was grinning you know he clearly had concern for losing his leg it was shocking to see his lake in that condition one of his feet had snapped off above the ankle who was lying on the ground just attached by tendons the bloody from jail it was covered in ants it looked like liquid tar i didn't see how anybody could repair that leg and it must surely have been hurting he was certainly in pain for the first time Clive is confronted with the true horror of Graham's injuries time is running out for the severely injured men eight hours since he left for help and there's still no sign of lumber Clive knows that their fate is now in his hands and I think mama made it here doesn't look that way would be back by now I knew that there was every chance that Mamba might not have got through i sat with Adam and we discussed the options they decided that we would have to do something other than rely on Mamba I could see a ridge and if I could get up there I felt I would be able to see what was below us and maybe if there are any villages if Clyde can see a village close enough he could attempt to reach it despite his fractured back I grabbed a pole and then tried to stand [Music] slowly I injured my torso into a vertical position while he manages to stand his progress is painfully slow [Music] provided I didn't twist or turn or bend forward too quickly I was okay climbing that hill was just really very very difficult when I got to the top of the summit I looked down to the valley floor there was no settlements there was absolutely nothing a very steep descent to the valley floor which would have made extremely difficult to even get down there let alone across it and find find people with no village in sight clive realizes that in his disabled state he has no chance of reaching safety as I stood on the ridge I just suddenly was aware that I'd put the silver survival blanket in my top shirt pocket and thought this is a good place to put it but it wasn't a logical decision it wasn't something that I thought through I just did it I thought well somebody would possibly see a would increase our chances of being spotted [Music] thirty-six hours since the crash the time is running out the condition of Clive's colleagues is worsening as they face another bitterly cold night Adam had physically deteriorated throughout that day he was very weak it was a very cold night and he just seemed to go into uncontrollable shivers Adam doesn't know it but he's now developed pneumonia his lungs are inflamed when filling with fluid without urgent medical care his lungs could collapse and then he will slowly die I was really concerned that he wouldn't last very long watching him shivering like that was was very tough as Adam weakens Grahame is fighting his own battle for survival by then I was beginning to smell of it because I was beginning to go bad what Graham can smell is infection spreading rapidly through his severed foot the open wound and exposed tendons are deteriorating with every hour that passes I looked down and there were three or four big black ants chewing away at the bits of meat and tendon and whatnot on the end of my leg [Music] but there wasn't much I could do but I couldn't even brush them off I did a calculation after another night of cold I didn't think Adam would survive that Grahame child is struggling to stay conscious despite the pain from his severed leg pilot Adam Polk is suffering from chronic pneumonia Adam was beginning to get a lot weaker I was beginning to lift his head to assist him with drinking water it was quite distressing to see him deteriorating the way he was I was really concerned that with the heat of the day he would really suffer yet again Clive makes a desperate decision he will attempt to reach safety despite his fractured back he has no idea whether he's even capable of making it I wasn't really sure whether I could do it but I was absolutely agreement that I would rather try to do something like that then just sit there and watch these two guys slowly deteriorate [Music] I'd sort of thought about it but I kind of wanted it to be their idea because leaving them in the plane and walking away from the plane was almost breaking every rule in the book but I couldn't see any other way and as it turned out neither could they we'll be waiting for you here it was quite an emotional moment the men know that this may be their final goodbye I'll see you soon [Music] all I remember was looking back at the plane no one there to get them water no one there to help them with anything they may need they were just gonna lie there and if I didn't get through they were just gonna die I just remember looking back thinking this is it I might never see these guys again that was a tough time very tough time [Music] it's a massive gamble Clive is not sure which direction will even lead him towards a village or how far he would get and the dense African terrain [Music] with barely a few hours worth of water the injured men are now alone and completely at the mercy of the African elements as soon as I went away I knew that this was the last act ready we couldn't survive much longer Adam and Clive are now clinging on to life all they can do is wait and pray the rescue there was nothing else we could do I don't know that we even communicated with each other we might have shouted to each other once or twice during the day but that took energy we were both completely vulnerable we were on our own that we couldn't move we couldn't do anything we couldn't collect water and we were vulnerable to any any kind of foreign thing I thought prices were on my parents and my brothers to certainly think Cygnus is not good for them that you know that they must be suffering an enormous Lee because of this can you hear that [Music] suddenly this airplane flew art over the top of us quite high and it flew out a little distance beyond us a search plane is scouring the area but Adam and Graham know that their plane is obscured by dense vegetation [Music] and eventually it flew off we were pretty depressed we were lying there thing that's probably the last chance we've got I mean that was a really good chance and they they obviously didn't see us there one chance of rescue is gone deep in the wilderness Clive also hears a plane but he knows he'll never be spotted I walked for the whole day through different kinds of vegetation crossing gullies at the top of every Ridge you were convinced but at some point you get to the top you look down and there would be the village that you were waiting for [Music] and of course it wasn't [Music] I began to get more frantic that the next Ridge had to be finally the one I was looking for [Music] and when that didn't come all the insecurities came out [Music] am I in the right place I've gone the wrong way I just thought I failed I haven't gone through clubs last ounce of strength desserts him he can go on no further [Music] as the temperature rises in the midday Sun there's an ominous sign focus these birds are opportunist eaters so you know they were circling over something they thought would be good to eat vultures are scavengers that feed off the flesh of dead bodies they can sense the men are close to death I could hear something had enough distance I was very excited you know I think the adrenaline was probably pumping as fast then as at any time [Music] and this helicopter comes flying in from our left yeah the silver space blanket that Clive laid out was spotted by a search plane with no place to land a helicopter was dispatched to rescue the men I told Freilich a volunteer rescuer was in the chopper I never forget the pilot saying I don't think anyone can survive that and that's when we saw this hand waving and I said no there's there's somebody alive down there [Music] and I just this is fantastic the whole surge of positive emotion that goes through you just seeing the helicopter and have weight went off my shoulders there you know it was just amazing [Music] it was just a question now of time and they'd lift me out [Music] mumbo finally reached a village a day after the men were rescued he later died of an unrelated illness completely unaware of the rescue clive english spent a night alone in the bush before he was finally rescued he made a full recovery graeme child underwent emergency surgery on his foot remarkably his foot was saved but today he has full mobility when I saw Graham in the oxygen tent I just could not believe that he still had his foot it was just extraordinary that he'd sort of come through this the way he had and he still seemed like somehow he would just survive and he has he has Adam Pope spent 72 hours paralyzed on the wing of the plane it took him five years to learn to walk again in a went when I was rescued there was a sense of regret that the great adventure was was ending you know that that whole kind of experience was now going to be fragmented and shattered and you know you're going back into the real world you

Channel: Wonder

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Keywords: wonder, i shouldn't be alive, i shouldn't be alive full episodes, wonder i shouldn't be alive

Id: rGBoyLKaHB4

Length: 48min 10sec (2890 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 22 2018