Survivors - True Stories

On August 9th 2006, a Taiwanese ocean liner discovers a boat adrift. Three young men from Mexico were onboard : Salvador Ordonez, Jesus Vidana Lopez and Lucio Rendon. The sailors, aged between 27 and 37, must have been touched by grace : they have been drifting for nearly ten months...

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Beginning in the 1990s, so-called commercial ascents of Everest became quite popular. Amateur climbers led by experienced guides set out to conquer the roof of the world at their own peril. Beck Weathers was one of those passionate, sometimes internally tormented, people who want to live an extraordinary experience. Unfortunately, in May 1996, he almost lost his life...

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Chris Lemons is professional diver from Scotland. His job : maintenance of underwater gas and oil pipelines and platforms. A hazardous occupation, what with the dangers of decompression and the risks of drowning. In 2012, Chris is with his team in a hyperbaric chamber that would be their home for the next few weeks on board a huge ship : four teams of three divers will take turns on this mission, and Chris is delighted to be reunited with colleagues who have an excellent reputation...

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Sergey Ananov is a seasoned adventurer. But nothing could have prepared him for what he endured in the summer of 2015. On July 25th of that year, he boards his helicopter alone, heading for Greenland. It is day 42 of his round-the-world helicopter trip. The Russian wants to become the first person to circle the globe in a helicopter weighing less than a ton. He does not have many miles left to go. Halfway through his 6-hour flight, flying over the icy Canadian Arctic, his helicopter has a technical problem while crossing a thick fog. Sergey is forced to attempt an emergency landing...

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On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It was one of the most powerful hurricanes in the history of the United States, a category 5, the highest on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Such intensity caused extensive property damage and cost over 1,800 people their lives. Some of the remaining residents of New Orleans managed to escape. One astonishing case is undoubtedly that of Gerald Martin, 76 years old, found alive 18 days after the the hurricane’s passage.

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Barely protected beneath its skull, the human brain is a fragile little thing that does not usually appreciate being pierced. And yet, the American Phineas Gage survived not a simple bullet impact but a 3-foot long crowbar that went straight through his brain. His case has been studied by scientists ever since...

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At the end of the 1920s, crossing the Atlantic was a challenge, that only a few daredevils managed to accomplish. Among them were the pioneers of the Aéropostale, the well-known mail-carrying airline of the early days of aviation. Henri Guillaumet was a regular on the South American crossings. Until his 92nd, which proved to be one too many. Poor Henri, would have to be very resistant, indeed, to cross the snowy Andes Cordillera on foot... it was a matter of life or death.

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We all know the story of Robinson Crusoe, shipwrecked on a deserted island. He must have found time very long. But there are worse things than being alone on an island : there is the story of the man who drifted almost alone on a 23-foot boat for over fourteen months. He struggled against hunger, thirst and madness. It was a matter of life or death.

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The date is May 23rd 1971. Nicole Viloteau, 25 years old, is a journalist and a photographer. She is also a snake-lover. During a road trip with friends, she takes an inventory of the pet snakes she’s brought along with her. They all look half-stunned by the heat. She opens one of the bags, labeled Elaphe obsoleta, the non-venomous rat snake. But instead, a rattlesnake pops out -- and immediately, it bites Nicole on the lip ! Something has to be done. It's a matter of life and death.

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Decapitation, stoning, hanging... Human justice has invented many ways to enforce capital punishment. In the United States, electrocution was for a long time the most common finish line for death row inmates. It is difficult to escape unharmed. But that’s exactly what happened to Willie Francis in May of 1946...

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