MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Roberto Canessa, a survivor of the 1972 plane crash in the Andes, made headlines once again as he revealed that he was the one who suggested resorting to cannibalism to survive. The now 70-year-old Canessa trekked through the mountains for ten days in search of help for the survivors after the crash.
Canessa, then a 19-year-old medical student in Uruguay, was one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed into the Andes mountains. Along with another medical student, Gustavo Zerbino, he aided the injured during the crash, using strips of clothing to bandage fractured bones and cooling them in the snow. Ultimately, Canessa and another survivor, Nando Parrado, hiked over 37 miles in 10 days to find help. They volunteered for the perilous journey knowing that the most sickly survivors would soon die if they didn’t find help.
After enduring 72 days of extreme hardships, including starvation, freezing temperatures, and avalanches, Canessa and the other survivors were eventually rescued. Since then, Canessa has become a pediatric cardiologist, a motivational speaker, and an author, sharing his harrowing story in a book entitled “I Had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives.”
Canessa’s story has also inspired two feature films, and he continues to share his experience and insights about the tragic accident on his website. His incredible tale of survival and his subsequent career as a medical professional and speaker serve as a powerful testament to the human spirit and the will to endure against all odds.
In the end, the survivors’ rescue after almost two months in the mountains serves as a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the resilience of the human body. Canessa’s remarkable journey from survival to success continues to inspire others and shed light on the extraordinary will to live that resides within all of us.