Torment of 1972 Andes plane crash Article # 3

'I had to eat piece of my friend to survive': Torment of 1972 Andes plane crash

Rating: ***

The article I read was a piece of writing created in 2012 which was reviewing the events of a plane crash that occurred in 1972. The article also tells us about the then, 19 year old Dr. Canessa one of the 16 survivors of the crash and the struggles that he had to willingly go through so that he could survive for 72 days on a snowy mountain with little to no resources. One of the things Dr. Canessa had to do to survive was participate in cannibalism. The body of his dead friend had been preserved by the cold and snow of the mountain, and since he had no food to eat he had to start eating the flesh of his friend to stay alive until rescue came. Unknown to him, the rescue efforts to find survivors of the crash had ended, so Dr Canessa and one of his friends walked through the snow for 10 days until they finally found someone and could get rescued.

I enjoyed reading this article because I believe it’s a perfect example of the will to survive. After the crash he was stranded on a mountain, and of the 16 survivors, there were 8 more people that actually survived the crash but died due to the environment. I could just imagine how many more people could have survived had they packed some extra clothing for the cold weather. Moreover I respect this man’s will to survive because his will was so strong that he was able to push himself to participate in cannibalism just to keep on living.

I would definitely recommend people to look into this survival story. There was actually a movie made based on the events of this survival story, it’s called “Alive” and it was filmed in 1993.

Mail Online,. ''I Had To Eat Piece Of My Friend To Survive': Torment Of 1972 Andes Plane Crash Survivor Still Haunted By His Ordeal 40 Years Later'. N.p., 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.