The Feat Of Nando Parrado
Nando Parrado’s story is one that only happens once a century. His real name is Fernando Seler Parrado. He was only 23 when he had an experience that completely changed his life. Nando was the protagonist of the feat known as the “miracle of the Andes”. This event happened in South America in the 1970s.
A private plane, which was carrying a Uruguayan rugby team, crashed against one of the many peaks of the Andes, in Chilean territory. The team was going to participate in an international competition. Including the crew, 45 people were on board. After a week, only 27 of them were alive. In the end, 16 survived, in large part thanks to Nando.
The accident took place at an altitude above 4000 meters. The aircraft crashed into a rocky area, completely covered in snow. There was no sign of life except for the remains of the plane and a group of people who did everything they could to survive.
The fatal accident
This air accident occurred on October 13, 1972. The flight was going perfectly well until the wind suddenly changed direction. However, this variable had not been taken into account by the pilot. The latter continued on his way, without realizing the deviation of the plane. Due to the bad weather the visibility was very low. The plane ends up suddenly crashing into a mountain.
The pilot had not correctly recorded the location coordinates of the aircraft. When the emergency services were alerted, they could not find the device. The search stopped a week later.
Meanwhile, the survivors organized themselves to care for the wounded, ration the scarce supplies they had, and try to send out emergency signals. The leader of the team was none other than the team captain, Marcelo Pérez.
Nando, one of the survivors
Nando Parrado was traveling with his mother and sister. The mother died instantly. The sister survived but was injured. Nando was struggling between life and death. He was unconscious for three days and his companions took care of him until he woke up. He then took care of his sister, but she eventually succumbed to her injuries.
This young Uruguayan, studying mechanical engineering, did not have a very important place in the group. However, his will to survive was stronger than that of others, despite the losses he had just faced. The group let itself be carried away by inertia while Nando thought only of ways to get out of this nightmare.
The young people began to die one by one. Nando therefore decided to try to cross the cordillera, alone, and find an inhabited place to ask for help. He succeeds in convincing one of his companions, Roberto Canessa, to accompany him. The two men began a more than dangerous crossing. They only had a ration of food and no equipment to climb mountains or protect themselves from the cold. But they achieved their goal.
A great controversy
Nando and his companion led the authorities to the scene of the disaster as soon as they could come into contact with civilization. Their 14 companions survived thanks to this act of will and decision. The news went around the world in a few hours. However, when asked how they had managed to survive without food for over two months, a very controversial story arose.
The young people had decided to eat human flesh. They had to feed on the corpses lying in the snow because they had nothing else to eat. This aroused and continues to arouse strong criticism. The affair turned into a scandal.
Nando used the following words: “I lost my mother, my sister and my friends. I broke my head, I was buried in an avalanche. I crossed the Andes for help and returned to the crash site with rescue helicopters in the middle of a snowstorm. When it all ended, my life was destroyed. I had to rebuild it. My cordillera started after that ”.
Nando ends up finding his father. The latter, seeing him, was only able to pronounce the following words: “Thank you for coming back”. He managed to rebuild his life with one idea in mind: to fight to do what he loved. He therefore became a racing driver. And got to know the woman of his life, with whom he married and was extremely happy.
Our thoughts In this article, we’ll walk you through the main characteristics of resilient people so you can get started …
