In 1971, an eighteen-year-old girl named Juliane Koepke was flying out to her father’s research station in the jungle when she encountered a horrific storm. Thanks to Juliane’s determination to live – combined with her familiarity with the wilderness helped her defy all the odds and survive.
In the middle of the flight, the plane was hit by lightning, then it broke into pieces, and Juliane found herself outside free-falling 30,000 feet. Moreover, the seatbelt squeezed her stomach so she couldn’t breathe. Before she lost consciousness, Juliane saw the dense jungle below, “a deep green, like broccoli”. When she came to, she was still strapped in her seat. Staggering to her feet, she assessed her injuries: a fractured bone in the neck, and deep cuts on her leg and back. She was in shock, lost, and totally alone in the forest.
However, thanks to her familiarity with the wilderness that enabled her to survive, she realized her only hope was to follow a stream of water nearby. Therefore, she decided to go through the jungle by following the stream. Luckily, she felt no hunger, but as the days passed, her health was deteriorating rapidly. On the tenth day, starving and barely conscious, she spotted a tent. It belonged to three woodcutters working nearby. Finally, she got help from them and was taken to the hospital immediately.
As she lay in her hospital bed, Juliane reflected on the harrowing experience that had nearly cost her life. From that day on, she vowed to live each moment to the fullest, cherishing every breath and never taking anything for granted.