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Start by marking “I Had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives” as Want to Read:
I Had to Survive: How a Plane Crash in the Andes Inspired My Calling to Save Lives
On October 12, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying members of the “Old Christians” rugby team—and many of their friends and family members—crashed into the Andes Mountains. I Had to Survive offers a gripping and heartrending recollection of the harrowing brink-of-death experience that propelled survivor Roberto Canessa to become one of the world’s leading pediatric
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I really enjoyed his perspective, as well as how it is in two parts. One about the crash and the other is life after. Toward the end it sounded redundant with some of what he says about life and what he learned from surviving. Overall I felt it was really interesting and an engaging read.
Jun 02, 2016
Christine
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
adventure-nature-experience,
auto-bio-memoirs
This book kept my attention quite well. I'd never heard of this event, and the book was rather inspirational.
Oh boy. I agree with many of those previous reviews in that this is really two books - I can see that. However, I also can see the correlation. How can such a traumatic episode not affect how you live and view life? The two parts of the books were so different, that I remember them separately, yet at the same time, you cannot take Roberto's experience in the Andes out of the second part - it is a part of him.
The first part of the book discusses the plane crash and aftermath from Roberto's point ...more
The first part of the book discusses the plane crash and aftermath from Roberto's point ...more
En el año 1972 yo tenía 15 años . La tragedia de los Andes como se le llamó en aquellos tiempos , fue un suceso que marcó mi vida . Por alguna razón que aún no he descubierto ( o simplemente por lo trágico de la situación ....... será ) , en mis pensamientos está siempre el recuerdo de esos días ..... . Cada año cuando se recuerda en octubre el accidente y en diciembre el regreso de los sobrevivientes , vienen a mi mente imágenes vistas en la TV , fotos , de esos 70 días que pasaron en la nieve
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A story of hope and determination. No one could have imagined that there were survivors of a plane crash in extreme conditions in the Andes Mountains, but there were sixteen! One of them, Roberto Canessa, goes on to become one of the world's leading pediatric cardiologists.
This book is a retelling of those days after the crash and the experiences of fighting to live. Also, genuine testimonies of patients, family, co-workers and friends of how this man was forged by his ordeal on the mountain and ...more
This book is a retelling of those days after the crash and the experiences of fighting to live. Also, genuine testimonies of patients, family, co-workers and friends of how this man was forged by his ordeal on the mountain and ...more
This special man not only survived a plane crash in the Andes mountains when he was 19 years old, but he used the experience to become a world class pediatric surgeon. The audio book starts with the ordeal of the crash and the seven day hike over snow covered mountains to connect with rescuers, then we follow Roberto into his life as a doctor. He applies lessons learned on the mountain as a teenager to his career saving the lives of children born with deformed hearts. I enjoyed the book. The lat
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Ya leí mucho sobre esta historia, pero sigue dejando cosas nuevas. Creo que necesito leer más de estos libros personales y ahondar en la historia y el testimonio de cada uno de los 16.
La justa combinación del relato histórico, más el presente de su vida, más los testimonios de sus pacientes (y familias), moviliza, duele, renueva y anima.
Sigue siendo mi tragedia favorita.
La justa combinación del relato histórico, más el presente de su vida, más los testimonios de sus pacientes (y familias), moviliza, duele, renueva y anima.
Sigue siendo mi tragedia favorita.
In October, 1972, a chartered Uruguayan Army flight left Montevideo, Uruguay for Santiago, Chile, with passengers traveling to play in a rugby match. The flight, which carried 45 crew and passengers, crashed while flying through a pass in the Andes Mountains. Of the 45, twelve died immediately, and a number died of injuries and from an avalanche later. The survivors, all rugby players and an older man, numbered 16 by the time they were rescued in late December after two intrepid young men, Rober
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This was much better than I expected. I've always been drawn to survival memoirs and I'd read Alive when it came out in 1974. So when a friend told me about this book I started it, but with somewhat low expectations. After all, a memoir with a melodramatic title (uh-oh, feel-good motivational tripe), written over forty years after the event, with a co-author who probably did most of the writing . . . didn't bode well. Well, this is proof positive that you CAN'T tell a book by its cover. Roberto
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Wonderful read and a great message on how we can turn challenges in our lives into opportunities to reach out and help others.
In October of 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying a rugby team and their friends and family, crashed in the Andes mountains. Roberto Canessa was a 19 year old, second year medical student at the time. He did all that he could to help the injured and dying. The group was stranded for 79 days in subfreezing weather with no food. In order to survive, the living had to resort to eating the dead. Eventually Roberto and 2 others made a 10 day trek through the Andes, at dangerously low temperatu
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This book is actually two in one, and the two are very different, tied together with a common thread of life itself. Book 1 is a harrowing tale of survival, from the introspective and humble POV of the author, whose story clearly takes him from his previous young incarnation and transports him to a new life in a crazily terrible way. Book 2 is a doctor-on-his-rounds subjective and aggrandizing testimonial from the POV of his patients in his new incarnation. I appreciate both genres separately, a
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This was a GoodReads giveaway win. This was an Advanced Reader Copy. It may have changes in its final format. The english version was well done. There are no photographs included in this ARC.
A very moving telling of survival. Back in 1972, a plane full of rugby players and some of their family crashed into the Andes. This is both a recounting of survival and the survivor "moving on" centered around (now Dr.) Roberto Canessa. The story is told in two parts, Part 1 from the perspective of a young ...more
A very moving telling of survival. Back in 1972, a plane full of rugby players and some of their family crashed into the Andes. This is both a recounting of survival and the survivor "moving on" centered around (now Dr.) Roberto Canessa. The story is told in two parts, Part 1 from the perspective of a young ...more
This book was amazing. This topic has always fascinated me - when I was in my early twenties I read "Alive!" and, having never heard anything about it, read it like a work of fiction that happened to be true - i.e. I had no idea who survived (except for the spoilers inherent in the photograph section) or what happened to them or how they suffered etc. Now this book adds a new dimension, in that the account of the long harrowing unbelievable walk to civilization is told by one of the men who did
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I've always been interested in the story of survivors of the 1971 plane crash in the Andes so I looked forward to reading this book by Dr. Canessa. The book really focused on Dr. Canessa's life philosophy of helping others and focusing on the positives and possibilities. In the book we hear from many people who have been positively impacted by Dr. Canessa.
The impact of the plane crash and his survival story remains present in his life in a very positive way, giving hope to others when others giv ...more
The impact of the plane crash and his survival story remains present in his life in a very positive way, giving hope to others when others giv ...more
This book has a really good tone and feel to it. I really like how the author used his own personal memories as well as memories from his dad and his girlfriend. The book jumps from the mountain to the rescue mission the his dad was a part of, it also jumps to his house where his mom and girlfriend where. There are so many great parts to the book and if you need an autobiography or survival story you should read this one.
I remember reading the book Alive about the plane crash. This book shows the strength of the human spirit and how one man used that experience to make the world a better place in his own way. He let the light that led him and Nando off that mountain continue to lead him and his family through life. A very inspirational book.
I couldn't put the book down for the first half. It is profound, frightening, and deep. But I can only give it a four star because I feel like the second half of the book is entirely different and doesn't jive with the first part. It has personal stories about the patients he has treated, that goes into so much detail. It got quite tedious to read through the accounts.
Much better than the movies!
This book was really good but it took me a while to finish. Obviously the plot is a page turner but there was a lot of personal history of the character and his life which I thought he could have done without but that was just me. I found I skipped through a lot of that. When he was actually telling the story of being on the mountain I love every minute.
I had read the book Alive, about the soccer team plane crash in the Andes and was interested in this "just-released" follow-up book written by one of the survivors. It was very interesting to read from his perspective of being up on the mountain and being able to eventually walk down. INSPIRING.
Super inspirational!! A great follow up to a horrific event in history. The book does not dwell on the survivors ability and what they had to do to survive, but more the trek out of the mountains and the fortitude of attitude it takes to survive... Highly suggest reading.
Remarkable story of human nature and a strong, courageous, and kind man. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this incredible story / journey.
I had read Alive many years ago so I kind of remember the story. The first half was great but I got bored with his life after after the rescue. I liked alive better.
First half of the book is a compelling account of the crash and subsequent quest for survival...more so the latter. Second half is a testimonial to the author's survival.
It was ok. Too much emphasis about his life as a doctor than anything else. Didn't have the X factor. Good story though.
I loved this book. It did give me reason to ponder and reflect. Roberto took a hard situation and turned it into good!
Moving
Inspiration to all readers. The stretching of the human spirit to it's breaking point, and only grows stronger! A must read
Inspiration to all readers. The stretching of the human spirit to it's breaking point, and only grows stronger! A must read
audiobook
Details on what a soccer team did to survive for over two months after a plane crash in the Andes and how this event changed their lives. Fascinating.
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