When Nando Parrado took off on a flight from Uruguay to Chile with his rugby team-mates, he was looking forward to an enjoyable weekend break, and had invited his mother and sister along for the trip. Then disaster struck, as their plane crashed into a mountain. Miraculously, many of the passengers survived, but Nando's family died and he was unconscious for three days. Stranded 11,000 feet up on an inhospitable glacier, the survivors had almost no food or suitable equipment to withstand temperatures as low as -40C. Meagre ...
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When Nando Parrado took off on a flight from Uruguay to Chile with his rugby team-mates, he was looking forward to an enjoyable weekend break, and had invited his mother and sister along for the trip. Then disaster struck, as their plane crashed into a mountain. Miraculously, many of the passengers survived, but Nando's family died and he was unconscious for three days. Stranded 11,000 feet up on an inhospitable glacier, the survivors had almost no food or suitable equipment to withstand temperatures as low as -40C. Meagre supplies rapidly diminished, and soon they heard on the radio that the search for them had been called off. It was then that they realised the only food for miles around was the bodies of their dead friends...In a final, desperate bid for safely, Nando and one of his friends set off on an impossible journey, climbing 17,000 feet-high mountains, facing death at every step. Finally, on the twelfth day of their journey, and 72 days after the crash, they saw a hill farmer and the survivors were rescued. In MIRACLE IN THE ANDES Nando shows how the strength and camaraderie of a team, and his love for his family and the father he was determined to see again, enabled him to overcome impossible odds and survive.
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Add this copy of Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My to cart. $23.15, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2007 by Crown Publishing Group (NY).
Most folks are somewhat familiar with the story of the South American rugby team that was stranded high in the Andes mountains after their plane crashed, in 1975. The book and movie "Alive" told the story of how survivors of the crash remained alive for two months before their rescue.
"Miracle in the Andes", however, was written by Nando Parrado, who, along with fellow survivor Roberto Canessa, finally walked out of the mountains and reached civilization, an amazing ten-day journey that allowed the rescue of the rest of the survivors. Parrado's gripping book provides an intimate, first-person account of the crash and its aftermath in a way that "Alive", with its journalistic approach, could not.
When this book arrived at my home, I thought I'd read just a few pages a day, busy as I was with work, other reading and regular errands, household tasks, gym, etc. However, I couldn't put the book down that day and finished it the next. "Listen to this!" I kept saying to my husband as I read him passages from the book.
The ingenuity, tenacity and hard work of the survivors enabled those who survived the crash to remain alive in unimaginable conditions for two months before their improbable rescue. Parrado's book is an honest, unflinching description of how this astonishing event unfolded. Read this book!
catamaran179
Nov 28, 2009
Extraordinary. Made me cry.
How we face life "in extremis". Well perhaps not we, but they and where there is intersection, we know how they felt and what drove them to continue in the face of extreme odds. Where there is not an intersection, we can but imagine and cheer.
I was very connected being born in South America, playing rugby, rowing competitively, and having skied in the Andes as a teenager and having a granddaughter who plays rugby.
jkboyd
Feb 5, 2009
I loved the movie Alive and read that book, this new book gives a more infomation on the boy Nando who and another boy got out of the moutains and saved the rest from dieing. Great!!
quasar
Dec 31, 2008
I read 'Alive' many years ago and was happy to see a follow up book . This is a surprisingly moving account of Parado's experience, in which he discusses the nature of God, the meaning of suffering and his transistion from a somewhat shallow (his description) young man to an adult. He also describes, in more detail than some may want, the crash and how the survivors came to the decision to do whatever it took to survive in a hostile environment that provided no food or shelter.
