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  • Remember how you felt after finishing school?

  • Yes, the torture is over and you can start making plans to achieve all your goals; nothing

  • can stop you now!

  • That's probably how Juliane Koepcke felt too after celebrating her school graduation on

  • December 23 in 1971.

  • But she had no idea what was waiting for her the next day.

  • So when 17-year-old Juliane Koepcke finished her school in Lima, Peru, she went along with

  • her mother to join her father at a research station in the Amazon rainforest.

  • The girl and her mother were really eager to leave Lima as soon as possible and fly

  • to Pucallpa, which was the nearest city to that station, but almost all the flights were

  • booked because of the holiday season.

  • Their only option was airline LANSA, which already had a bad reputation with two crashes

  • on their record.

  • However, they booked the only empty seats for flight 508, not worried, considering the

  • short one-hour duration of the flight.

  • But after purchasing the tickets they still had to wait for 7 hours because the flight

  • was delayed due to bad weather.

  • Finally, the plane took off in the afternoon on December 24.

  • At first, it was a smooth ride, but soon the clouds started getting darker and darker and

  • the turbulence got worse.

  • Naturally, Koepcke began to feel anxious and nervous just like all the other passengers,

  • including her mother.

  • Something was definitely wrong.

  • After crossing the Andes at about 21,000 feet, the plane got caught in the middle of a big

  • storm with constant thunder and lightning.

  • Suddenly the plane started jumping up and down, parcels and luggage were falling from

  • the lockers and flying around the cabin.

  • Terrified and helpless, Koepcke grabbed her mother's hand and closed her eyes.

  • But a few minutes later, her eyes were jolted open when a bolt of lightning struck the plane.

  • Now the fuel tank was ignited and moments later, one of the plane's wings was torn off.

  • Before Juliane could understand what was happening, the airliner went into a nose-dive and the

  • cabin began tearing apart into pieces.

  • Still strapped to her seat and hanging head-over-heels she went into a 10,000 feet free-fall from

  • the sky!

  • The only noise she could hear was the whispering of the wind, and she only saw the canopy of

  • the jungle spinning toward her.

  • The girl didn't remember anything about the impact, but most likely the seat she was attached

  • to and jungle foliage cushioned her plummet.

  • Unbelievably, she survived the air crash.

  • Now that's a real miracle!

  • For the next 24 hours, Juliane faded in and out of consciousness.

  • After that, she finally managed to stay conscious and started shouting out for her mother.

  • However, she soon realized she was all alone in the middle of the jungle.

  • As if surviving the fall wasn't enough of an ordeal, now she had to figure out how to

  • make her way through the rainforest to find help.

  • In addition to that, Juliane's collarbone was broken and she had several deep cuts on

  • her arms and legs.

  • Despite those injuries, she started moving, promising herself to get through this nightmare

  • at all cost.

  • While searching for food, she heard the hum of a circling aircraft above her head.

  • The plane crash prompted the biggest search in Peru's history, but the forest was so

  • dense that aircrafts couldn't spot the wreckage from the crash, let alone a single person.

  • After some time she stopped hearing the humming, knowing for sure that no one was going to

  • rescue her.

  • Luckily, she found a bag of candies at the crash site, which would be her only food for

  • the next 10 days.

  • But then she heard another sound that lifted her spirit a bitthe dripping of running

  • water.

  • Now it's time to mention that Juliane was actually pretty familiar with the jungle,

  • because her father was a biologist who studied Amazon wildlife.

  • She spent quite a lot of time with him at his research station and he taught her a lot

  • of things about rainforest nature.

  • Now she remembered when her father told her that tracking downstream should eventually

  • lead to civilization.

  • Besides, she had water to quench her thirst.

  • And so Juliane set out on her trek following a tiny stream.

  • As you can guess, it was anything but easy.

  • The Amazon rainforest is full of dangers.

  • Its home to hungry jaguars, black caimans with their sharp teeth, and many poisonous

  • snakes who are camouflaged to look like dry leaves.

  • To avoid stepping on one of them accidentally, Juliane would test the area in front of her

  • by throwing her only shoe ahead, then moving forward to pick it up, and tossing it again.

  • Also, she had to climb over huge logs and masses of gnarled roots in her way.

  • But the girl just kept walking, despite scorching heat and hunger.

  • It was rainy season in the Amazon, meaning that there was no fruit to pick.

  • And since she had no knife, she couldn't cut the palm hearts from the palm tree stems.

  • Despite blistering sun at day, Juliane got really cold during the chilly nights.

  • Finally, after a few days of roaming in the rainforest, she arrived at the bank of a large

  • river.

  • But there was no sign of anyone.

  • It was disheartening for her, but she knew she had to move on.

  • Juliane walked through the shallow waters at the edge of the river very carefully, knowing

  • that stingrays liked to nest in these shallow waters.

  • She was going so slow at this pace, she decided to swim out to the middle of the river instead.

  • She knew stingrays stayed away from the deeper water and only hoped she wouldn't meet piranhas

  • or alligators on her way.

  • So she swam in the river at day and went back to the shore at night to rest.

  • But sleeping at night was no easy feat because insects kept biting her, making her injuries

  • even more painful.

  • On the 10th day of her exhausting journey, she finally saw something that made her think

  • she was hallucinating – a big boat!

  • Juliane couldn't believe her eyes and even touched it to make sure it wasn't a mirage.

  • There was no one near the boat, but the girl noticed a beaten path the led up the riverbank.

  • She followed it until she saw a hut with a palm leaf roof.

  • The hut was empty, but Juliane found an outboard motor and a canister of gasoline there.

  • She had a really deep wound on her arm, and it was seriously infected to the point that

  • there were maggots.

  • The girl knew she had to get rid of them.

  • Juliane remembered that once her father had removed maggots from the family dog using

  • diesel fuel to force them to the surface.

  • So she poured some gasoline on her wound.

  • Right away she felt intense pain because the maggots tried to get further into her flesh.

  • But she managed to pull them out.

  • Completely exhausted, Juliane decided to spend the night in the hut where she could finally

  • get semi-decent sleep.

  • The next day she woke to the sound of voices.

  • There were several men outside.

  • Again, she thought she was hallucinating but the voices grew louder and eventually, the

  • men entered the hut.

  • Imagine how shocked Juliane was when she saw them!

  • They were startled too, however, because at first they thought she was a kind of water

  • goddess - a figure from a local legend who is a hybrid of a water dolphin and a blonde,

  • white-skinned woman.

  • Juliane explained to three lumberjacks who she was and what happened to her.

  • They treated her wounds and gave her something to eat.

  • The next morning, they helped her get into a canoe and took a ride downriver to a lumber

  • station.

  • After they reached the destination, a local pilot flew the girl to the hospital where

  • she finally got professional medical help.

  • Soon her father arrived, and they were finally reunited.

  • While staying at the hospital, Juliane gave information to the researchers that helped

  • them locate the wreck.

  • Sadly, she was the only one who survived the crash.

  • But this story is still an amazing example that a person's will to live is always stronger

  • than the most terrible circumstances.

  • What would you do if you got stuck in the jungle for 11 days?

  • Let everybody know in the comments below!

  • Don't forget to give this video a “like,” share it with your friends, and clicksubscribe

  • to stay on the Bright Side of life!

Remember how you felt after finishing school?

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