All language subtitles for The.UnXplained.S04E11.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PlayWEB.12

Deadly
falls from incredible heights.

Lightning strikes packed
with devastating power.

And lethal brain
injuries that should mean

certain death.

How are some people
able to beat the odds

and survive the impossible?

Is it blind luck?

A combination of instinct
and quick thinking?

A combination of instinct and
quick thinking? Or could it even be...

Or could it even be...

Or could it even be...
divine intervention?

Divine intervention?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

29-year-old engineer Tsutomu
Yamaguchi is walking to work...

when a blinding flash,

brighter than the
Sun, fills the sky.

He doesn't know it yet,

He doesn't know it yet, but
the world's first atomic bomb

but the world's
first atomic bomb

has just exploded over the city

has just exploded over the city
with the force of 15,000 tons of TNT,

with the force of
15,000 tons of TNT,

creating a massive shockwave...

that disintegrates
everything in its path.

Instinctively,
Tsutomu Yamaguchi raced into a ditch

as an atomic fireball

began to pulverize
almost everything in sight...

like a gigantic hand from
outer space coming down,

crushing everything,

crushing everything,
blowing all structures away.

Blowing all structures away.

The bomb that
exploded over Hiroshima

was the most destructive
force ever unleashed in history.

80,000 people died instantly,

as temperatures approaching
the surface of the Sun

as temperatures approaching the
surface of the Sun vaporized their bodies

vaporized their bodies

vaporized their bodies and
bathed the city in lethal radiation.

And bathed the city
in lethal radiation.

But, astoundingly,

despite being less than
two miles from ground zero,

Mr. Yamaguchi somehow survived.

There is ash
falling from the sky.

And he realizes that his
eardrums have been shattered

and that he was burned

by the enormous amount of
heat that came out of the blast.

He got a thousand times

the dose of radiation that
we experience in one year

simply by walking on
the surface of the Earth.

Anyone who was in
that type of a radius

from, uh, an atomic
bomb would experience

anywhere from 95%
to 98% chance of dying

due to all the different
dimensions of injury

due to all the different dimensions
of injury that are possible.

That are possible.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi's survival

of the nuclear
devastation at Hiroshima

is almost impossible to fathom.

But what's even more
unbelievable is that,

But what's even more unbelievable
is that, just three days later,

just three days later,

just three days later,
on August 9, 1945,

on August 9, 1945,

he did it again.

Yamaguchi is from Nagasaki.

After being atomic bombed,

he wants to go back
to meet his family.

So he gets on a train,

travels 186 miles from
Hiroshima to Nagasaki.

Travels 186 miles from Hiroshima to
Nagasaki. And then, for a second time,

And then, for a second time,

he sees this flash of light

coming from an
atomic detonation...

The Nagasaki bomb.

And there's a
repeat of the tragedy.

More than 75,000
people died in the Nagasaki bombing.

Yet, once again,

Tsutomu Yamaguchi walked away

from a deadly nuclear
blast with only minor injuries.

Even more incredibly,

despite being exposed
to a lethal dose of radiation

despite being exposed to a lethal dose of
radiation for the second time in three days,

for the second
time in three days,

he lived an
otherwise healthy life

he lived an otherwise healthy life
before finally dying at the age of 93.

Before finally dying
at the age of 93.

Those two quick
doses of radiation,

within three days of each other,

um, is-is absolutely terrible.

Uh, you would
think it would have...

destroyed his-his
body, his internal organs.

But, somehow, this
man had a system

that was able to withstand it.

And so it shows that
there's a lot more going on

with our bodies,
and they're capable

of a lot more than
we may realize.

It just takes these
extraordinary circumstances

to show us that.

From a medical perspective,

it defies all of the
science that we know.

There has to be another facet,

like his will to live.

And, who knows,
maybe that element of will

that can't be
quantified by science

had something to do with it.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi's
survival would appear to defy all logic,

which is perhaps why some
people attribute it to fate.

When
we're thinking about survival,

fate and destiny
are so interesting,

because they're beliefs
that have been held

by societies as long as we've
had, sort of, recorded history.

We can look at
the ancient Greeks,

where a lot of the
philosophies were really about

the gods on Mount Olympus
sort of rolling the dice

and determining the fates for
the lowly humans underneath.

We could look at Hinduism,

where the concept of karma
has often been sort of conflated

with a model of fate.

And I think that makes sense,

given how people who
survive disasters of any kind

and really, by all
odds, should have died,

it's really a miracle

watching them walk
out of these situations.

One of the systems of meaning

that those people will
find themselves in is to say,

that those people will find themselves
in is to say, "There was a plan for me."

"There was a plan for me."

Is it really possible
that Tsutomu Yamaguchi

was destined to
withstand the bombings

at Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Perhaps the answer can be
found by examining another survivor

who overcame impossible
odds not just twice

who overcame impossible odds not
just twice but an astonishing four times.

But an astonishing four times.

Deep within the bowels of
the luxury liner RMS Titanic,

Arthur John Priest
is shoveling coal

into the vessel's
massive boilers...

when it strikes
a 400-foot iceberg.

The hull rips open,

and Priest is
plunged into darkness

and Priest is plunged into darkness
as the boiler room instantly floods

as the boiler room
instantly floods

with the icy waters
of the North Atlantic.

With the icy waters of the North Atlantic.
These areas where Priest was working

These areas where
Priest was working

and the other
firemen are working,

they're below the waterline.

They're the most vulnerable.

The water's gonna come in
at a very fast rate of flooding.

The chances of
survival are very slim.

Somehow, with the ship damaged,

breaking apart...

he still managed to get
from below deck and escape.

And, guys in his role,

a lot of 'em didn't get to
make it onto the life rafts.

So, he gets in the water

and survives 28-degree
water temperatures,

these ungodly, uh, below
freezing water temperatures.

Available information indicates

that Arthur John Priest
swam up to 30 minutes

that Arthur John Priest swam up to 30
minutes before safely boarding a lifeboat.

Before safely
boarding a lifeboat.

So, seems like a pretty
remarkable feat to survive,

given the tragic loss of
life involved with the Titanic.

Surviving the
Titanic is incredible enough.

But what's truly remarkable
about Arthur John Priest

is the fact that, over
the next five years,

he endured three more
catastrophic shipwrecks.

Priest survived four sinkings
between 1912 and 1917.

He not only
survived the Titanic,

but then he was also involved
in the sinking of the Alcantara,

1916.

He next moved
on to the Britannic,

which also sank in the
later part of the year.

His last ship that he served
upon was another hospital ship,

the Donegal...

which was torpedoed
by a German U-boat

in the English Channel in 1917.

For Mr. Priest to survive
all four of these shipwrecks,

it seems like something
was looking out for him.

Because it definitely
defies the odds.

Luck, serendipity,
whatever it is,

I think our bodies and minds
can take us very, very far,

but, at a certain
point, you just got to...

you really got to
hope for the best.

Are some people
destined to cheat death?

Certain stories definitely
make you wonder

whether it's possible.

However, there are
those who believe

that some stories of
survival are not due to fate

but rather, the
remarkable healing power

of the human body.

A 25-year-old
foreman named Phineas Gage

is overseeing construction
on a railroad line

from Rutland to Burlington.

Suddenly, an explosive charge

set to blast away rock
detonates without warning.

In the violent eruption,
Phineas Gage is struck

by a three-and-a-half-foot
iron rod.

The 13-pound projectile spears
Gage straight through his head,

entering below
his jaw and exiting

entering below his jaw and
exiting out the top of his skull.

Out the top of his skull.

A nice big chunk of metal

took part of the brain with it
and blew out part of his skull.

His coworkers come
up and they just had

to put him on a horse,
bounce him down the road

and take him not to a
hospital but to a hotel,

'cause that's where
the nearest doctor was.

But when the doctor

begins his examination,

he is astonished to
find that Phineas Gage

is still alive.

In some ways, Phineas Gage
is a strange story of resilience.

Remarkably, not only did he
survive in the minutes and hours

right after the tamping
rod went through his head,

he was just sort of
talking like he was normal.

999 out of a thousand

other brains would
have just shut down.

But even though
his brain and his skull

was severely damaged,

he never loses
consciousness the whole time.

And he manages to live,

and live a fairly
normal rest of his life.

That's why the curious case
of Phineas Gage is so unique

That's why the curious case of Phineas Gage is
so unique it's still talked about to this day.

It's still talked
about to this day.

By all accounts,

having an iron rod
blasted through one's head

should result in certain death.

So how was it possible that
Phineas Gage not only lived

but remained conscious
through the ordeal?

Well, according
to medical experts,

it may have had something to do

with the brain's
remarkable ability

to rewire itself.

This case was what
started the fascination

with understanding the
different parts of the brain.

It's possible that
there was some matter

It's possible that there was some
matter that shot out from the brain.

That shot out from the brain.

The interesting part is,

none of the stuff
that was extruded

none of the stuff that was extruded
was critical enough to his function

was critical enough
to his function

to stop him from surviving.

When Phineas
Gage endured this accident,

it showed us that the
brain is very neuroplastic.

And by that, I mean the
brain does grow back.

So when there's injury,
that neuroplasticity

So when there's injury, that neuroplasticity
means that the brain will attempt,

means that the
brain will attempt,

to the best of its ability, to
engage in some form of "repair."

Is it possible
that Phineas Gage's brain

was somehow able to
rewire itself and keep him alive

after an iron rod
tore through his skull?

Perhaps.

But some medical experts believe
that he was only able to survive

because there was another
factor at work: sheer luck.

And as proof, they point
to the case of a woman

who also suffered a
nearly fatal brain injury.

After a long day's work,
research chemist Andrea Scott

heads to her car to drive home.

But when she
approaches the vehicle...

three men emerge from
the darkness to rob her.

As Andrea
struggles for her life,

two gunshots ring
out in the night.

Two gunshots ring out
in the night.

I remember

being on the ground

and just getting
up off the ground...

trying to leave that place.

I was shaking,

I was shaking, I
was extremely cold,

I was extremely cold,

I think my whole
body was in a shock.

I think my whole body was in a
shock. I had no idea that I was shot.

I had no idea that I was shot.

I had no idea what
bad shape I was in.

Paramedics
rush Andrea to the hospital.

Incredibly, she's conscious

and aware of her
surroundings for the entire ride.

It's only after she
arrives at the ER

that Andrea learns the
extent of her injuries.

When I was in the ER,

doctors told me I was shot
twice to the back of my head.

I remember lots of
doctors and lots of nurses

I remember lots of doctors and lots of
nurses working really hard to get me stable.

Working really hard
to get me stable.

People did not
believe I would survive.

Not only
did Andrea Scott survive

being shot in the head
twice, she was able to walk

out of the hospital
after only eight days,

with minor injuries.

But how?

There's a lot of amazing
things about Mrs. Scott's story.

The bullets, of course,

after being shot at
point-blank range, in her head,

traveled through the
brain into the neck,

and there are so many
important blood vessels.

Your carotid arteries,
your jugular veins,

the artery that supplies
blood to your brain

that travels up your spine.

All right there, all
within a few inches.

And somehow,
missed all of those.

She did have a lot of
healing to go through.

Part of her face was
paralyzed for a while,

she still gets severe
headaches, but even after all that,

she still gets severe headaches, but even
after all that, she healed up almost 100%.

She healed up almost 100%.

Extraordinary tale of survival.

Doctors told my husband

that it was a miracle,

that they don't know
how it's possible

that they don't know how it's
possible that I didn't end up dead.

That I didn't end up dead.

Statistically, I
shouldn't be alive today.

The chances of
surviving a bullet wound to the brain,

it's less than 0.1%.

We are absolutely talking about
the difference of millimeters.

That's what makes this
truly a remarkable case

that shows we haven't
figured out everything

that shows we haven't figured out
everything about blows to the brain.

About blows to the brain.

If our brains have the ability
to endure catastrophic injury,

is it possible that our
bodies possess other,

even more extraordinary
survival capabilities?

Perhaps the answer can be found
by examining the story of a man

who was struck by
lightning not once, not twice,

but seven times, and lived.

Park ranger
Roy Sullivan is driving south

along Skyline Drive
when suddenly,

a bolt of lightning strikes him

through the open
window of his truck.

Roy Sullivan
was struck by lightning

driving along a mountain road.

He wasn't hurt that much.

He was lucky.

Lightning can cause all
kinds of damage to a person.

It can injure one's nerves,

it can cause
headaches that last, uh,

for many, many
months, if not years.

And of course, a
lightning strike can be fatal.

The blast burned off Roy's hair

and left a black burn
mark on his ranger hat.

One out of every ten people
struck by lightning dies.

Those who survive often suffer
debilitating, lifelong injuries.

Those who survive often suffer debilitating,
lifelong injuries. But somehow, Roy Sullivan

But somehow, Roy Sullivan

walked away
relatively unscathed.

Though what's even
more remarkable

Though what's even more remarkable
is that between 1942 and 1977,

is that between 1942 and 1977,

Roy Sullivan was struck by
lightning on six more occasions

and survived each
and every time.

Roy Sullivan was
in the Guinness Book of Records

for having been the
person who was hit the most

in his lifetime by lightning.

He was dubbed the
Human Lightning Rod,

He was dubbed the Human Lightning
Rod, Spark Ranger and Lightning Man.

Spark Ranger and Lightning Man.

There are a number
of factors that increased

Sullivan's odds of being struck.

He was outdoors,

not only on tops of mountains
but on lookout towers,

moving around a
lot in open spaces.

But the fact that he
was hit seven times

and didn't die is incredible.

Lightning is one of
the most devastating forces on Earth.

A single bolt can carry
more than 100 million volts

of electricity

and is five times hotter
than the surface of the Sun.

So how was Roy
Sullivan able to survive

such destructive
power seven times?

Well, according to some experts,
it might have been because

certain people's bodies
are more resistant

to being electrocuted.

The human body is not
the greatest conductor

for electricity, but
in these cases,

maybe there are compounds
in their bloodstream that do

increase their ability to
generate energy or hold energy.

For example, someone who has

a higher degree of
iron in their bloodstream

could potentially conduct
lightning a little bit better.

Is it possible that Roy Sullivan

possessed some
physical or genetic trait

that allowed him to
both attract lightning

and withstand
surges of electricity

that could otherwise
kill a normal human?

Perhaps a clue can be found
by examining another person

who was struck by
lightning multiple times

and lived to tell about it.

After a long day of competition,

bull rider Carl Mize
is about to head home

when he grabs the
door handle of his truck

and is instantly hit by a
powerful bolt of lightning.

Right when it happened, I
knew I was struck by lightning.

The-the flash of the light
and the shock, you know,

that went through my
arm and through my body.

It knocked me back four
or five foot on my tail end.

And, uh, I just jumped up
and tried to brush the mud off,

and-and got in my
truck and, uh, left.

Aside from some achy muscles,

Carl was left uninjured
by the experience.

And like most people,
he wasn't worried about

this happening again, because
he believed the old adage

that "lightning
never strikes twice."

But between 1994 and 2006,

But between 1994 and 2006,
Carl was struck by lightning

Carl was struck by lightning

an astonishing five more times.

For 39 years, I've worked
at the University of Oklahoma

in the electrical department
in the utility shop.

And we take care of all
the high-voltage electricity.

So I often think there's
got to be something

that, you know,
attracts lightning to me,

'cause it's just unheard of
to be struck that many times.

After each incident,
doctors who examined Carl

were shocked to discover
that his injuries were minor.

None of his internal
organs suffered the kind

of significant
damage normally seen

of significant damage normally
seen in victims of lightning strikes.

In victims of lightning strikes.

There's not a
whole lot of people

that get struck by
lightning, so doctors

really treat you
as a guinea pig.

They actually had
a man come down

that was an electrical engineer

to measure the DC
voltage in my body.

A common person has six
volts DC to run your body.

Whenever they tested me, I
had 1.7, uh, DC volts in my body.

I'm more, uh, conductive
than a-an average person.

And it makes me wonder, and
even the doctors have wondered, too,

could have that been
what's kept me alive?

The notion that some individuals
are born with an X factor

that allows them to
avoid death is fascinating.

But what about stories
of beating the odds

that are beyond
scientific explanation?

For example, there
are cases of people

who fell from such
incredible heights

that their survival seemed
to defy the laws of physics.

47 stories above the ground,

brothers Alcides
and Edgar Moreno

step onto a hanging
platform to wash windows.

But when they start working...

disaster strikes.

Edgar plunges 472
feet onto a fence, dying instantly.

But as emergency
responders arrive on the scene,

they approach the
wreckage of the scaffolding

and are shocked to discover
that Alcides is still alive.

Mr. Moreno actually fell

with the scaffolding and landed

onto some garbage
cans in the alleyway.

Our rescue paramedics,

they thought that it was
gonna be a recovery.

But when they got to him,

But when they got to him, he
opened his eyes and took a breath.

He opened his eyes
and took a breath.

Alcides was
rushed to the hospital for surgery.

Several of his vertebrae
had been crushed,

and his skull was fractured,
causing his brain to swell.

He was given 24 pints of blood

and put into a
drug-induced coma,

undergoing 15 more surgeries.

But on January 24, a mere
seven weeks after his accident,

Alcides was discharged
from the hospital.

Any fall from greater than
one and a half times your own height

is considered
potentially deadly.

So for someone to fall from
this great a height and live,

you know, a productive
life is absolutely fascinating.

Statistically,
falling from a height

greater than 40 feet
is almost always fatal.

So how did Alcides
Moreno survive a fall

from more than
ten times that high?

It's not
the falling that kills you,

it's the stopping.

And so, if there
is a tree, bushes,

wreckage that's between
you and what you hit,

those factors
contribute to survival.

And so, the main factor
that caused Alcides Moreno

to survive is that
platform that he was on.

He held onto that
all the way down.

He didn't fall
directly 47 stories

He didn't fall directly 47 stories
without anything cushioning his fall.

Without anything
cushioning his fall.

Is it possible that
being on top of the platform

broke Alcides Moreno's
fall just enough for him

to withstand a 470-foot plunge?

Perhaps the answer can
be found by examining

Perhaps the answer can be found by
examining the story of a woman who survived

the story of a
woman who survived

the highest fall in history.

Six miles over the
country of Czechoslovakia,

JAT Airlines Flight 367

is en route to
Belgrade, Yugoslavia,

when a bomb detonates on board.

There are 28 people on,
including crew and passengers.

There are 28 people on, including
crew and passengers.

The plane breaks apart
into three different parts...

The nose, the middle
section, and the tail...

And it falls about 33,000 feet

into a tiny little village
called Srbská Kamenice.

The plane's wreckage

slams into the ground
at 150 miles per hour.

27 of the 28 people on
the plane die on impact.

But against all odds,

one person survives
the fiery crash:

flight attendant Vesna Vulovic.

When the rescuers come,

the plane is in
all kinds of pieces

all over the mountainside,
but here's her,

in the wreckage, survived,
all ten fingers and toes.

She's wedged in the
fuselage, her head is sticking out,

and there is another dead
crew member on top of her.

She has all sorts
of broken bones,

just terrible injuries,
and a lot of bleeding.

She's hospitalized and
she did not wake up, really,

until about three weeks later
when her parents came to visit.

After a while, she
wanted to return to work.

She did not have
a fear of flying.

She had no memory of
the crash or the aftermath.

Essentially, her memory
was greeting passengers

and then seeing her parents
later on in the hospital.

According to The
Guinness Book of World Records,

Vesna Vulovic plummeted
more than six miles,

making her fall the
highest anyone has survived

making her fall the highest anyone
has survived in recorded history.

In recorded history.

But what's even
more extraordinary

is that she wasn't
wearing a seat belt

when the plane
exploded at 33,000 feet.

Vesna
Vulovic was not in her seat.

It's a surprise, honestly,

that she wasn't
killed immediately

from the explosion or
thrown out of the aircraft

like all of the other
passengers and crew.

Some people say, "Oh,
she was in the back of the plane,

"the angle, maybe
when she hit it went

"the angle, maybe when she hit it went like a skier
would land, down at an angle, not all at once."

like a skier would land, down
at an angle, not all at once."

And maybe it did, but it
just seems very extraordinary

that all these things could come
together to have one survivor.

The fact that someone can live
through a fall from 33,000 feet

seems to defy all logic.

But maybe we have
to accept that science

doesn't have all the answers
when it comes to understanding

why some individuals
survive the impossible.

Like the stories of
people who believe

they escaped certain death
with the help of a higher power.

2,400 feet below ground,

dozens of miners toil in
the sweltering darkness

of the San José copper mine.

Suddenly, the Earth
above them shifts

and dislodges a boulder
the size of a 45-story building.

The massive boulder
comes crashing down,

causing the mine
shaft to collapse,

and blocking the ramp
that leads up to the surface.

There were 33 men in the mine

There were 33 men in
the mine at the time of the accident.

At the time of the accident.

On the surface, they
knew that there had been

On the surface, they knew that
there had been a terrible accident.

A terrible accident.

A terrible accident.
But it was not clear

But it was not clear

what that meant for
the men down below.

The outside world had no idea

if they were alive or dead.

If they were alive or dead.
People were really on edge,

People were really on edge,

they were watching this
around the world on television.

It's really something
that-that people

were following
very, very closely.

Search and rescue teams

quickly began to
drill into the rock

to try and free the miners,
but progress was slow.

For days, the world
watched in suspense

as rescuers
desperately continued

to drill in search
of the miners.

There was a lot of concern

about their individual
health conditions.

One of these guys had
an ulcer that was really bad.

One of them was a diabetic.

So there were really
desperate efforts

on the part of the Chilean
authorities to find them.

It was nearly
impossible to find the men,

because nobody can
see through the Earth.

And the maps were outdated.

And that meant, as
one of the drillers said,

"We're drilling blind."

Finally, after 17 long days,

one of the rescuers' drills
uncovered evidence that,

incredibly, the
miners were still alive.

The miners had
found some red paint

so that when the drill
came down through,

they could paint
on the drill to show

that "We are alive."

In the drill,
they sent a note out

that said in Spanish,

"Estamos bien en
el refugio, los 33."

"We are okay in the
refuge, the 33 of us."

"We are okay in the refuge,
the 33 of us."

And that really just
changed everything.

Rescuers
sent down small packages

of desperately needed
supplies through the narrow hole

leading to the miners.

They also sent down

They also sent down
a small digital camera.

A small digital camera.

The video paints
a harrowing portrait

of the conditions the
miners had been trapped in

for the previous 17 days.

Somehow, the men had
survived on only a week's worth

of food and water.

These miners were
trapped almost half a mile underground,

with a few cans of tuna fish.

They had to resort
to drinking water

that was used for
industrial purposes.

Also, they created a-a system

in which they had
a democratic vote,

you know, one man, one vote.

And the majority, if they
decided on something,

that was the way that
they were gonna go.

Without
knowing it, the Chilean miners

walked into one of
the most important

survival strategies
there is, which is

creating a sense
of collectivism,

and leaving each of
them feeling less alone

with this nightmare
that they were in.

After discovering
the miners were alive,

rescuers estimated
that it would take months

to drill through half
a mile of solid rock

to drill through half a mile of solid
rock and reach the trapped men.

And reach the trapped men.

So here you are now,
August 20, August 22,

and the drill operators
said to the team up on top,

"We will be able to get
them out by Christmas."

So, you are going
to have to tell the men

that you're going
to have to be down

in that mine

for three more months.

To combat their
feelings of helplessness,

the trapped miners turned
to their last remaining refuge:

their faith.

One of the
things that really struck me

about why they were able
to make it, uh, for so long,

about why they were able to make it, uh,
for so long, was their religious beliefs.

Was their religious beliefs.

They really felt like prayer
was one of their strategies

They really felt like prayer was one of their
strategies to help them make it through this.

To help them make
it through this.

Literature documents

that faith is a significant
factor in survivability.

Sometimes it's individual faith,

sometimes it is
faith of a community.

Sometimes it is faith of a community.
The hard part is, there is no science

The hard part is,
there is no science

that we have that
absolutely defines it,

but faith has real tangible
results for many people.

For the Chilean miners,

many of them were men of faith

as part of their
day-to-day lives.

So praying together,
having that collective energy,

was just enough hope to keep
a person going for another day.

After 69 days,

the rescuers finally created

a hole big enough
to extract the miners.

Then, as the world
waited with bated breath...

Then, as the world waited with
bated breath...

the men were
brought up one by one.

And astonishingly,

all 33 miners made it out alive.

But perhaps what's
even more incredible

is that they were rescued
two months sooner

than everyone expected.

And the miners firmly believed

And the miners firmly believed
that this unexpected turn of events

that this unexpected
turn of events

showed that a higher power
had intervened on their behalf.

The power of
prayer played a crucial role

in allowing these
33 miners to make it.

It's even been said that
God was the 34th miner.

Um, several of the men who
were trapped down there said that.

They really felt like
their belief in God

They really felt like their belief in
God was why they were rescued.

Was why they were rescued.

When faced with a
life-or-death scenario,

some people choose to
appeal to a higher power

to help them survive.

But there are others
who react much differently.

When pushed to the
limit, they tap into abilities

they didn't even know they had.

Here, in this protected reserve

in the shadow of Mount Kilauea,

tech industry executive
Dewey Gaedcke

heads out for an evening hike.

But as he walks through
the 523-square-mile park,

he becomes lost.

And when he's
unable to find the road

And when he's unable to find
the road where he parked his car,

where he parked his car,

Dewey's hike transforms
into a grueling fight for survival.

Clouds came over and
covered up the moon,

so it got darker,
it got windier...

and I completely
missed the road.

And that's what
really messed me up.

And that's what really messed me up.
I expected only an hour and a half hike,

I expected only an
hour and a half hike,

so I really wasn't
well prepared.

So I really wasn't well
prepared. I brought a flashlight,

I brought a flashlight,

a digital video camera,
tennis shoes, and that was it.

Miles from
his car and hopelessly lost

within a 330,000-acre maze
of razor-sharp lava rocks,

Dewey quickly realizes
that if he's to have

any hope of rescue,

he first needs to
keep himself alive.

I was exhausted, I was stressed,

I had a cut that looked like
it might be getting infected.

So I was worried about gangrene.

I hadn't brought water,
uh, so I was already starting

to get a little bit dehydrated
after being out there that long.

To get a little bit dehydrated after being
out there that long. I walked all night.

I walked all night.

Well, it's some very late hour.

Well, it's some very late hour.
I'm dehydrated and I'm lost.

I'm dehydrated and I'm lost.

I'm not a survival expert,

but I've always been
insanely curious,

and friends have called me
MacGyver since high school.

And friends have called me MacGyver since
high school. I'm good at studying things,

I'm good at studying things,

and, uh, I'm good
at figuring out

how different pieces
can be used together.

In the morning, I
built a debris shelter,

so I-I had something
to sleep in at night.

And I had built rain catches,

so I'd woken up with
plenty of fresh water.

I talked to my camera every
day, leaving messages for my kids.

I talked to my camera every day, leaving messages
for my kids. I just want to say to my little girls,

I just want to say
to my little girls,

I love you guys so much.

And I'm doing my best
to get home to see you.

My primary hope of getting
rescued was from the sky,

so I had already
broken the mirror off

of my video camera and was
using that to try to reflect the sun

to signal that I'm
in an emergency.

At that point, I was
actually starting

to feel fairly confident I was
very likely to get rescued.

And then I heard a helicopter.

On his fifth day
of being stranded and alone,

a commercial tour helicopter
found and rescued Dewey.

After his rescue, local
officials informed Dewey

that no one had ever survived

more than three
days lost in the park.

So, how did a tech
industry executive

with no survival experience
manage to endure five?

Well, according to
experts, it was primarily

because of Dewey's
ability to remain calm

and focus on solutions
in the face of adversity.

Well, I just finished my, uh,
second-generation rain catch.

When a
person is in a survival situation,

one of the questions is
whether a person is able

to tap into something
in their mind

that they didn't know they had.

That they didn't know they had.
There are people who have a mix

There are people who have a mix

of resilience,
adaptability, knowledge,

an ability to sort of center
and stay calm and focused.

Some of the
more common attributes

of survivors is
people that don't focus

on all the terrible things that
are going on around them.

They automatically assume
everything's gonna be okay.

There were
multiple times where I was scared,

but I don't believe
I ever panicked.

In retrospect, looking back,

I can really see how impactful it
was and how necessary it was.

So this experience
taught me that not only

could I function well,
I could actually use

my emotions to serve
me under pressure.

And I didn't know I
was capable of that.

Are we fascinated by
stories of individuals

who cheat death because
we believe, or maybe we hope,

that we could survive
under similar circumstances?

Of course, the
only way to find out

is to actually be thrust into a
perilous situation ourselves.

So, perhaps it's better
for us that the reason

why some people live
through the impossible

why some people live through the
impossible remains... unexplained.

Remains... unexplained.

Remains... unexplained.

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