Surviving Against All Odds - I Shouldn't Be Alive - S01 E06 - Survival Documentary

Summary

Highlights

• Greg survives a plane crash with severe injuries but refuses to give up. 🛩️💥
• Dehydration and predators become constant threats in the African bush. 🌞🦁
• Greg's ingenious use of tools and knowledge aid his survival. 🛠️
• The emotional search by Greg's friend Peter showcases the strength of friendship. 👫
• Greg's story is an inspiring tale of perseverance against all odds. 🌟

Key Takeaways

• Greg's willpower and survival instinct are extraordinary, showcasing the power of human resilience. 💪
• The African bush is as dangerous as it is beautiful, a reminder of nature's duality. 🐘
• Strong bonds and teamwork can make a difference in survival situations. 🤝
• Nature conservationists like Greg risk it all to protect endangered species. 🌍
• Never underestimate the importance of mental strength in dire situations. 🧠

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 07:00: Introduction and Plane Crash In the African wilderness, a British conservationist crashes his ultralight plane while flying solo, sustaining severe injuries and with no food or water. His chances of survival are grim, but his best friend begins a desperate search to find him amidst the vast expanse of the African bush. The situation requires every ounce of cunning and courage for him to survive.
• 07:00 - 29:00: Struggle for Survival and Initial Search Efforts The chapter discusses the rich and diverse wildlife in Zimbabwe, Africa, which faces threats from poachers and expanding human civilization. It introduces Greg Rasmussen, who moved from England to Africa in his youth and presumably gets involved in wildlife conservation efforts.
• 29:00 - 47:00: Nightfall and Continued Search In this chapter, the focus is on Greg, who has dedicated the past twelve years to saving a rare species of African dog on the verge of extinction. Greg's passion for wildlife started at a young age, and his love for the African bush and the ever-changing environment has been a constant in his life. Despite his commitments to his own projects, Greg is one of the few pilots available in the area, indicating his unique position and dedication to his mission.
• 47:00 - 73:00: Daylight and Final Rescue Greg, a conservationist, agrees to assist in finding a lost rhino, acknowledging the concern for the rhino at the National Park. Despite the challenges of flying an unfamiliar terrain and the intense concentration required in tracking animals, he commits to helping because of the wildlife's need.
• 73:00 - 90:00: Aftermath and Reflections The chapter titled 'Aftermath and Reflections' deals with the presence of poachers and the narrator's inability to ignore such illicit activities. The narrator emphasizes their responsibility and vigilance against these threats.

Surviving Against All Odds - I Shouldn't Be Alive - S01 E06 - Survival Documentary Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 in the vast expanse of the African bush a British conservationist flying solo crashes his ultralight plane severely injured and carrying no food or water in the wilds of Africa his chances of survival are slim his best friend desperately searches for him knowing he may never find him staying alive takes all the cunning and guts one man can son enough
• 00:30 - 01:00 [Music] Zimbabwe Africa home to some of the most varied animal life in the world much of it under threat from poachers and encroaching civilization [Music] Greg Rasmussen was born in England and came to Africa as a young boy for the
• 01:00 - 01:30 past twelve years he's dedicated himself to saving a rare species of African dog on the brink of extinction I've always been passionate about wildlife from day one I mean even as a child I loved the bush I love Africa it holds an endless fascination I mean is it never it's always changing and they're just so much learned it's like a book that just never ends Greg is one of the few pilots in the area and even though he's busy with his own project
• 01:30 - 02:00 he's agreed to help a fellow conservationist search for a lost Rhino people very concerned about the Rhino and National Park said would I assist and I said of course I will his wildlife needs help I'll help Greg's a capable pilot but flying a plane and tracking animals requires intense concentration and he'll be flying over unfamiliar terrain and I was aware of that I was fully aware of that but we had rhinos that needed locating
• 02:00 - 02:30 there were poachers out there I mean you can't turn your back I can't turn my back on things like that [Music]
• 02:30 - 03:00 [Applause] an ultralight plane is a cheap and efficient way to cover the African bush but is also very dangerous to fly under certain weather conditions temperatures in the day can be very very hot tricky flying conditions for a light aircraft you know it's hot the airs thin so it's quite hard keeping the plane up
• 03:00 - 03:30 in the air this was a very harsh dry rocky rugged area I've never flown in that area before and I realized I was in completely different territory the Rhino is electronically tagged and in no time Greg's tracking device picks it up I just found it I hadn't actually seen it
• 03:30 - 04:00 but I realized that it was alive by this movement see and I was just starting to circle out and as I turned the plane suddenly I went into something known as a wing storm literally one wings flying along music suddenly I had this gut-wrenching feeling
• 04:00 - 04:30 I put full power on the rudder pulling back on the stick I was doing the right thing and it wasn't working and the plane started to go down in the inner spiral and the ground were coming up pretty damn fast and then there's a split second you know you've passed the point of any return
• 04:30 - 05:00 I almost didn't want to open my eyes I didn't know what I was going to see what I was going to feel what I was going to
• 05:00 - 05:30 find I was totally dazed stunned and I was like I'm alive I'm alive and at that second petrol started dripping over me and I just pulled myself out literally almost fell out of the plane the petrol
• 05:30 - 06:00 started to come down I have these visions of this wall of fire I could just see myself being incinerated alive and I knew my legs were doing nothing I couldn't do anything with the legs at all but I just had to get away from this plane I mean this thing was a nightmare now
• 06:00 - 06:30 and then I suddenly thought Mayday I've got to call Mayday and I didn't want to go back to that plane I didn't want to go near it I had to brave it because I knew that that was my only means of survival and I knew the quicker I got a message out the better Oh Gregg has to try and make a call no one knows exactly where
• 06:30 - 07:00 he is or that he has crashed he has no survival gear with him no food no water and he severely injured and the whole handset was hot the crash has short-circuited all the batteries and it literally fried my only means of survival the emergency radio and then something happened that literally just changed almost everything the pain hit
• 07:00 - 07:30 the adrenaline worn off on the outside of his body Gregg has only a few superficial scrapes but inside he is bleeding badly and his legs are broken in six different places that was a pain that I never experienced before anything like it anything that even came close to it my legs felt that they were going to explode [Music]
• 07:30 - 08:00 my feet were just doing this my legs were just one big love merger [Music] and I realized I had to stay in control you know I had to be in control of the situation because they lose control that's it I was going to be a goner
• 08:00 - 08:30 I started to try and take stock of the situation oh and it was quite a harsh reality I suddenly realized there was no 999 that was yeah if I was gonna get out of this it was only gonna be me and me alone Greg is over 70 miles away from the nearest road by the time anyone realizes
• 08:30 - 09:00 he's in trouble it may be too late the brutal heat of the African Sun will bake him alive if he survives that he will face worse horrors as night approaches and hungry predators come out to feed unable to move Greg is easy meat but right now the pain from his smashed legs is all he can think of there was this pain in my ankles they felt that they were going to explode because I'd got
• 09:00 - 09:30 these boots on yeah and of course there was no space for the swelling to go there was no way I could even get anywhere near my shoelaces but I was thinking if I don't get those boots off oh there's gonna be gangrene and I I'm gonna lose my feet I lose my legs I managed to look back and I thought
• 09:30 - 10:00 well maybe if I can drag myself to this tree I could until my body forward so that I could maybe get to my shoelace somehow I wanted to stop that pain because I mean it really it was like my foot was exploding fate is being cruel
• 10:00 - 10:30 today the closest tree to Greg is a thorn tree but as its thorns dig deep into his back Greg realizes they might be useful and I managed to just break that twig off that was about the foot long and it got a hooked thorn on the end of it and I lay there and I could hardly focus there just so much pain I started to pick the
• 10:30 - 11:00 shoelace the foot well this is all I've got and I remember a little flashback to childhood because I was always absolutely useless for shoelace I then
• 11:00 - 11:30 realized I had one chance why pull and the knot doesn't spill then I've blown it that's that foot gone Gregg manages to loosen the shoelaces and get them both
• 11:30 - 12:00 to the same stage that nothing happens but the boots remained absolutely solid on my feet I realized then I had to pick the shoelace i buy i buy I through every single eyelet and all the time all I'm thinking of is if I don't get those boots off I'm gonna lose my feet and it was almost it was like a nightmare
• 12:00 - 12:30 ah I had to remain as focused as I could and I picked and I kept from picking until I finally got to the point where
• 12:30 - 13:00 the shoelace was free loosening his boots isn't having the effect Gregg expected the pain is just as bad because his feet keep swelling up to fill the newly expanded space he has to try something else I saw a stick and that was all there was I thought well that's the only tool there is that I can see other than rock
• 13:00 - 13:30 I'll go for that and as I even just touched the shoe the pain was just it was terrible and I thought oh my god I'm not you know and I and now I've got to push this and absolutely bizarre you know then I had a flashback to a movie you know I mean ridiculous it was a John Wayne movie you
• 13:30 - 14:00 know oh well you bite on that while I cut this and I grabbed this stick and as I pushed and I bit this stick was
• 14:00 - 14:30 just rotten it was full of termites and my mouth was now even drier than before and I went but I pushed with such forth shoo I just forced the other shoe off and lay there I looked at my watch and
• 14:30 - 15:00 it had taken me two and a half hours 200
• 15:00 - 15:30 miles away Gregg's best friend and colleague Peter Blin stern waits for him to return together they run a conservation project dedicated to saving the African painted dog one of the world's most endangered species we have this same passion for the dogs we have a lot of belief in each other's abilities
• 15:30 - 16:00 and that just comes through at the end of the day the phone rang I just felt nervous this kind of sense of something's something's wrong yeah Peter it was Norman English who's he's the warden over at cinema teller he said Greg's missing people talk about this
• 16:00 - 16:30 kind of cold hand or something that grips you but I really did just go like icy cold I was then thinking I have to find him in the heat of the midday Sun the temperature is now over 100 degrees Greg hasn't had any water for over 24 hours and his body is rapidly showing the effects of dehydration it was hot and it
• 16:30 - 17:00 was dry there wasn't answered moisture in the air I hadn't drunk the whole day because an elephant had destroyed the water pipes in our area where I'd taken off from it wasn't like feeling thirsty at all it was almost like being tortured everything was just so dry and your skin just didn't feel that skin anymore there was no texture to anything yeah you tried to touch with your tongue to touch
• 17:00 - 17:30 the roof of your mouth it just felt like it wasn't there as Gregg lies out in the open a vulture quick to sense a meal lands on a nearby tree and I thought not yet it was scorching hot you know dehydration was gonna be my next enemy to deal with but
• 17:30 - 18:00 also creditors was a major concern of mine the animals that Greg devotes his life to saving could now turn against him the landscape is alive with wild analysts looking for food they may look sleepy and harmless in a city zoo but in their natural habitat
• 18:00 - 18:30 they are deadly my fear wasn't the Predators themself was the fact that I couldn't run away here was me lying with a pair of legs that were just jelly Greg knows he has to find shelter both from potential predators and the Sun his only option is the plain fire or no fire I gotta get back and I've got to face
• 18:30 - 19:00 that plane again every single movement was terrible but I realized that it was that or dying I tried to pull and I had no more energy I've come this far and now I've got no power anymore to pull on my back and I
• 19:00 - 19:30 suddenly thought I've got to roll over because he's a biologist Greg knows that some species move more efficiently on their stomachs I thought how how I had two shoelaces and the stick I made a loop on the end of one shoelace and tied it onto the end of this stick I hooked the stick underneath my leg and I knew
• 19:30 - 20:00 that this was gonna be one very very painful and I had to just concentrate on what I was doing because I knew what was coming I almost had the fear of pain for a cane just as I rolled I heard a crack it wasn't the stick it was my pelvis was
• 20:00 - 20:30 broken with the temperature now hovering at 110 degrees greg is literally frying in the Sun as he drags himself towards the shade of his downed aircraft his thoughts turned to other dangers that threaten his life being in the bush for so many years you get to know absolutely every single noise you know every footfall you know which footfall belongs to which animal
• 20:30 - 21:00 I was terrified that maybe something would come and sneak up on me and I couldn't do anything you know I mean I couldn't run and then I heard elephants whole herd it is in fact an entire
• 21:00 - 21:30 permanence and they're moving right towards him and I thought they've got to sense that I'm here if they detect you at the right moment that's fine did they detect you too late that's the scary bit because then you're in their attack distance and I thought if the
• 21:30 - 22:00 wind is wrong and they don't detect me until the very last minute that's when I'm in trouble and then suddenly there was a huge screech I remember just thinking oh no please just don't stampede and I just have this absolute fear that I'm gonna be trampled
• 22:00 - 22:30 Gregg has dodged a bullet the herd moves on away from him I wanted to cry at his point and I realized then that I couldn't have cried even though I wanted to there was no moisture for me to expend on tears they wouldn't have come anyway [Music]
• 22:30 - 23:00 the head warden of cinema teller wildlife refuge Norman English organizes a search and rescue party the park is over 700 square miles he and Greg's best friend Peter can only start looking for Greg whether Rhino he was tracking was last sighted did hear a deer win at any point no no radio contact at all but it was
• 23:00 - 23:30 setting up near with a rhino the last sighted the rhinos are tagged right if we find them we find Greg Greg's up the only tracking device we have with him without a tracking device Peter and Norman have no way of knowing where Greg's plane crashed I was sure that he was alive but you know that you've not got much time almost as each minute passes by of course you becoming more and more concerned what about an aerial search I already started pilot from
• 23:30 - 24:00 Victoria Falls came up an assessment I was thinking we have to find him even if you survived the crash there's animals is wildlife that can kill him the chances of him surviving are getting slimmer and slimmer Peter and Norman have no idea that Greg is 40 miles from where they think he is Greg's condition is now critical because of his injuries exposure in the hot temperatures and
• 24:00 - 24:30 lack of water I was so close to the plane I could smell the petrol I gave it all the energy I possibly could and just as I got underneath it something felt a bit sticky on my mouth my lips had turned to rubber they plasticized and a piece of my lip
• 24:30 - 25:00 came off and it went to the back of my throat you know suddenly came to this horrible realization I just swallowed my lip but within moments greg has a new
• 25:00 - 25:30 worry he hears the sound of an animal walking nearby it was lying foot fall and I listened very very carefully and it was getting closer and closer and then I heard this call it was a
• 25:30 - 26:00 lioness and lionesses have a very distinctive call they use when they're calling Cubs and obviously because she was a mother with Cubs that makes a far more dangerous Greg knows that animals in the wild have a unique defense strategy they make sharp sudden noises to scare off their enemies as the lioness moves in closer to Greg he knows that creating a noise at the right time
• 26:00 - 26:30 is his only defense when he finally sees the big cat silhouette he makes his move [Music]
• 26:30 - 27:00 [Music] with daylight fading the search pilot will soon have to return to base there's still no sign of Greg or the wreckage [Music] I heard plane
• 27:00 - 27:30 and then I started to get almost excited [Music] and then I thought no I'm still the needle in the haystack they had an area to search about a thousand square kilometers and almost I wanted to scream I'm here I'm here I'm here I almost wanted to will the plane
• 27:30 - 28:00 and you know come my way come my way I can hear you I can hear you please and then there was silence I remember that silence now so well was killing nothing is going to happen now until tomorrow morning at the very earliest and I've got to start thinking
• 28:00 - 28:30 about the night and of course as a biologist you know the night astir always a dangerous time anywhere [Applause] [Music] it probably won't help much I'm just going to take the Land Rover out see
• 28:30 - 29:00 what I can find there's no way you're gonna find him in the dark gonna lose you too I won't be long I'll be back soon I suddenly came to this harsh realization sir there's not much left of me I'm a mess and I actually at that point I thought do I really want to carry on did I want
• 29:00 - 29:30 to live what did I want to die as the night closed in it was awful feeling it was really awful I was trying to imagine what it would be like for him now still
• 29:30 - 30:00 being out there I thought about my life and I thought well I've had a I've had a good life I have achieved I was suddenly for a very short period of time I was a total peace with myself I wasn't afraid of it I wasn't afraid of that death experience I suddenly realized that I had it in me the power to just switch off and just let myself go
• 30:00 - 30:30 people started to voice their doubts that he was now alive I was thinking about what they were saying and for a moment you know thinking maybe they're right but I wouldn't hear that Gregg wouldn't give up and neither will I
• 30:30 - 31:00 [Music] and then I suddenly thought about the dogs what amazing animal that had become my sort of whole resin d'etre and I thought but there's a hell of a lot more I could do and from that second it was like right the fight is on at that point there was just such a kick in me that that it was like I'm going for it and
• 31:00 - 31:30 I'm gonna make it and I'm not gonna if I go if I do die I'm gonna die fighting this right to the bitter end [Music] night comes on very quickly in Africa and with it a blanket of darkness that
• 31:30 - 32:00 provides cover for the Predators this is the time they can act out I was trying to picture how terrifying really it would be even for somebody like Gregg you would almost wish that he were dead and not have to face a night like that
• 32:00 - 32:30 at that point there was this total silence I could hear my heart sort of boom boom it was that silent and it made me very conscious how totally alone I was all I wanted now was for that night to end I had this nightmare that a hyena
• 32:30 - 33:00 was going to come up behind me I know what hyenas are capable of bonecrushers is there also no they've got the most powerful jaws of anything I also know someone who was carted off by a Haines and he was a fully 840 BAM but he was sleeping and they dragged him away that
• 33:00 - 33:30 was the biggest scare of the lot that a hyena might come up behind me [Music]
• 33:30 - 34:00 you're right thanks Norman Peter the men feel like Bremen automated you'll get through this
• 34:00 - 34:30 he's a stubborn bugger yeah [Music] you know I'm better than they do they don't think there's any point in him going out again tomorrow he's alive okay you know Greg you wouldn't give up I went either I'll talk to the pilot and the others see if they can give us another morning at least Thanks
• 34:30 - 35:00 [Music] [Music] I was terrified to even think about going to sleep because I knew that I wouldn't wake up again that would be it
• 35:00 - 35:30 then Gregg's worst nightmare comes to life once again he recognizes an animal by the sound its feet make when they touch the ground he hears a hyena and I thought it's coming behind me and it's gonna come right in the worst spot it's
• 35:30 - 36:00 gonna come round the back which is where I really had absolutely no control [Music] once again Gregg uses his knowledge of animal behavior he grabs hold of his stick and gets ready to hit the plane with it and create a noise to startle the Beast
• 36:00 - 36:30 [Music] and I waited until it seemed like forever I knew something came one step closer
• 36:30 - 37:00 then would have meant that I failed then I heard this light just footfall just getting less and less and less I remember lying there that particular point thinking is there any is there anything else that's gonna be chucked at me you know what what else is gonna come what other bricks gonna come down Greg
• 37:00 - 37:30 does his best to stay positive in one hour the Sun will rise and he will have made it through the night but it is one very long hour it was very frustrating waiting for their daylights to come I contacted our office we had 15 people that could come
• 37:30 - 38:00 over and help with the ground search so we could cover a wider area and they were there okay ready and waiting to help with the search [Music] I watched looking for the Sun to come over the
• 38:00 - 38:30 horizon and when it finally did I felt these rays coming all the way towards me and it was it was amazing experience I suddenly felt wonderful I was bathed in lights and heat and warmth I felt secure for a moment and then the harsh reality dawned on me that
• 38:30 - 39:00 it was that Sun that burning was going to continue and it's gonna kill me at first light the spotter plane sets out again it'll make a systematic search of the places where Gregg's plane might have crashed at Peter's suggestion
• 39:00 - 39:30 Norman is on board he knew the area better than anybody I really felt strongly that if anybody was gonna find Greg they would actually be him the additional members of the search team fan out but they're still looking in the wrong area it's been nearly 24 hours since Greg crashed a deadly amount of time to be out in the African bush injured and unarmed you know I was beginning to doubt if it survived greg
• 39:30 - 40:00 has a global positioning system yet the technology is useless if he can't tell anybody else where he is but every time he turns it on it records the exact time I was checking on the GPS trying to get the coordinates sometimes and then I suddenly had this horrible feeling that this GPS was almost acting like a record of when I was still alive and when I
• 40:00 - 40:30 died if I was dead when they're right Peter would pick up the GPS and he'd look at it and think oh my god he was alive at I don't know 11:40 and it's now 12 o'clock and if only we'd and it have been left with this eternal guilt and I almost wanted to destroy the GPS at that point normally Peter can you
• 40:30 - 41:00 read me over receiving we're gonna try another area on a hunch Norman decides to go back and check along the beginning of the route that Greg would have taken nearly 24 hours has passed and Greg's body is desperate
• 41:00 - 41:30 for water I managed grabs a piece of the broken windscreen I had this mad idea to see if it would collect moisture and then I heard this plane when I heard the plane get louder and louder I thought right I was going to
• 41:30 - 42:00 try see if I could get something out of that radio base it was all I had left that I could think of even if it gives the weakest signal it's worth a try and I gave it all I got I remember it out this is Bravo calling my deck and then my position is the
• 42:00 - 42:30 twenty mile east northeast cinema teller [Music] I thought I heard the plane get louder and I thought it's worked it's worked and I gave myself almost and the latest of a feeling but that's because that's what I wanted to hear I knew I was lying
• 42:30 - 43:00 to myself mentally I had to stay with it because if you get into depression that's it the game's over not knowing whether he's imagining the search blame or if it's really there Greg grabs a piece of his wreckage one of the struts hoping it will reflect the light and be seen by the plane [Music]
• 43:00 - 43:30 Mayday Mayday all search parties located the wreckage 40 miles south of the main search area no sign of Greg I was trying to keep up the dream that
• 43:30 - 44:00 they had really seen me but I realized I had to keep telling myself this lie because I didn't know that I was reaching the point of no return if they didn't find me soon I was going
• 44:00 - 44:30 we can't land I repeat we can't land we're gonna have to go by Road meet back at the base camp immediately I repeat I felt numb I wanted to see you know what was there I wanted to see Gregg I wanted to just get to the site [Music]
• 44:30 - 45:00 [Music] he's yes top of the road the runners obviously moved okay let's move it I did her I didn't see any sign of life I don't know if it's a good idea to go I need to see him I was really afraid you're just thinking okay we
• 45:00 - 45:30 found him but we don't know what we found yet and you imagining all sorts of horrors [Music] [Music]
• 45:30 - 46:00 [Music] [Music] [Music]
• 46:00 - 46:30 and then I heard these footfall Oh God let's cry [Music]
• 46:30 - 47:00 [Music] of course I knew what fulfills those were and among them it's Peter and I
• 47:00 - 47:30 suddenly looks and couldn't believe it that was him I couldn't even speak to anybody and don't people were just saying what happened girl I just have to say Wade stall and that's all I could say it was really overwhelming the heats fried and it was sort of affirmation of my belief in him
• 47:30 - 48:00 the feeling that I wasn't going to die was just indescribable I'd fought this and I'd won [Music] and somebody came up I hadn't got a clue who it was someone put their hand on my shoulder and said you're in safe hands now since the accident greg has undergone
• 48:00 - 48:30 more than 100 operations to save his legs through grit and sheer willpower he has learned to walk again of course you don't go through something like this without there being change in who you are I always treated life every day as precious but it's even more precious now I still am dreaming of that
• 48:30 - 49:00 day when I go back to Africa back to the smells back to the Sun rises the Sun sets and most importantly the painted dogs and wildlife conservation greg has indeed returned to his beloved dogs he continues his conservation work alongside Peter and has never flown an ultralight plane again [Music]
• 49:00 - 49:30 No [Music] you [Music]
• 49:30 - 50:00 [Music] [Music] you