WTF: Lone Survivor
We Talk Friday
(WTF)
This is a semi-regular series that I will run on Fridays to hold discussions on a current topic from the week gone. The aim is to keep them light and conversational, though some might be heavier - regardless of the content topic itself though, just have some fun engaging and discussing with whoever happens to put in the effort in the comments section below.
We Talk Friday Ep. 14: Lone Survivor
I am guessing that everyone has heard and seen the terrible event in India of another major plane crash, and also what can only be described as the miraculous lone survivor who literally walked away from the crash with minor injuries. After losing power, the plane hit buildings just after takeover and there was an enormous explosion as the jet fuel ignited. And one person walked away.
It just doesn't make sense, does it?
I'm almost expecting it to be some kind of cruel scam.
However, I wonder how the sole survivor goes on after this. His brother was on the plane with him, and around 300 people were killed in total in the plane and on the ground. And while I am sure there will be a lot of shock, will he be thankful he lived in the future, or have survivor guilt? He will likely have to ask himself the question of "Why me?", but can there ever really be a satisfactory answer to explain it?
How do you think you would deal with it?
While I would like to believe I would be okay, I don't. I reckon I would not handle surviving something like this well at all, especially after losing family beside me. I don't know if it would be guilt I would feel, but the senselessness of it would weigh heavy on my mind and the not knowing would be a constant pressure. I think the sheer magnitude of the event and the near improbability of survival nearly unscathed, would eat away at me. Not to mention walking away through what must have been a horrific scene of bodies. And then of course, for the rest of life the focus would be on the surviving, which relegates the hundreds of those who died into the background.
But, it is impossible to tell how I would feel and react, because it is impossible for me to put myself into the shoes of that guy, or his future. The life-changing scale of the crash and its aftermath is unimaginable for me, as I have never been in anything even remotely that impactful. Yet, it is our human nature to try and make sense of these events by comparing it to what we have experienced - like a car crash, the time the plane had to turnback because of a broken windscreen from a bird strike, or the several near-death experiences I have had throughout my life.
Do they give me adequate experience to imagine life after surviving a plane crash?
I don't think so.
Perhaps the experience is so extreme that the mind can't process much of it at all, and minimises it so that life can "go on" somehow. Perhaps the brain just blacks parts of the response out to protect itself from such an incredible unknown.
I don't know if he is lucky, or cursed.
Time will tell how he handles it and hopefully he is able to somehow consolidate the experience and find a way to live a good life after. Hopefully it empowers him to do something great, and something helpful for the world with what must be seen as a second chance, no matter what his life was prior.
If you had a second chance, what would you do?
Tomorrow is a new day.
Taraz
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Seat 11A is the luckiest person around as these types of crashes have no survivors especially when crashing into a building fully laden with jet fuel. I just don't think you can think about this in normal terms and is life changing for sure because you should be dead. When anyone has a serious medical condition and survives they act and think differently as I know it changed me so I would guess it would be the same type of feeling.
I wonder if people are now picking 11A as their seat.
With medical conditions, the odds are different, but also the conditions are somehow known. With the odds, this guy won the lottery every week for a year in a row.
Yes bang goes the theory the back of the plane is the safest place. I still do not get how this guy walked out and he was not that badly beaten up either.
He seemed more annoyed that people were following him.
Lol. Must have been the shock or realization if he is going to the UK he has to climb on another plane. That would take some balls to climb on another plane after that.
"Is there a boat?"
Remember the movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unbreakable_(film)
At the time we thought it was impossible, and that was a train accident.
Yes, this is what comes to mind. I am not sure if it is ever fully explainable as to how this guy survived. In such a volatile environment as a plane crash and explosion, the amount of factors that would have to align to protect him must have an approaching zero chance of ever repeating.
also he is basically unharmed
Yeah, it is amazing.
Just saw this story too, the odds of walking away from something like that have to be absolutely insane. Makes me think about how random survival can be in these situations
Things ,must have broken in the right place, flown through the air at the right time, hit things at the right angle... the probability is miniscule.
I can't imagine what must have been going through the guy's mind. I think it's going to take him a while to lead a normal life, and that's if he's going to.
The incident reminded me of a K-drama, Vagabond that I watched sometime ago, though it's a different scenario.
a K-drama? Is that a Korean show?
Yea it is
Yeah, I have a feeling survivor guilt would be a pretty big deal in something like that.
It would have to be right?
Personally? I don’t think I’d handle something like that very well. Just imagining the scene is enough to give you nightmares. But like you said we can never really know how we’d react until we’re actually living it.
I reckon that this is the case with a lot of things. We say "if I won the lottery" but the fact is, most people don't do what most people say they would.
I'd like to think I would be good, but I know I would be changed somehow. Since I can't begin to imagine being in that situation, I will never know for sure. That guy must have been in shock as he walked away.
I wonder if the changes would be for better or worse? Some people who almost die from something, become arrogant asses! :D
No lie..they think they're invincible
In the USSR there was a case when a plane broke apart in mid-air and a woman survived after falling from a height of 5,200 meters. It was August 24, 1981, Larisa Savitskaya is still alive.
what saved her - do they know?
She says that she was saved by watching the 1974 film "Miracles Still Happen" about a plane crash. She remembered the crash scene in the movie, chose a chair and pressed herself into it. In the film (based on a true story), the woman spent 10 days in the jungle after the plane crashed, Savitskaya also spent 2 days in the forest before she was found.
I can imagine how complicated his emotions must be right now. On one hand, he has survived what most would consider an impossible scenario; on the other, he has lost loved ones and witnessed unforgetable horror.
It is like surviving a war zone.
When I read about the crash, I couldn't think much than to say it's definitely a miracle for him to have survived all alone. It’s hard to imagine what the lone survivor must be going through a tragic event while so many others, including his own brother, didn’t make it.
That kind of experience can literally change a person forever. Talking about his perspective, the way he sees the world, and the happening around him, I can say that the trauma will take time for him to cope. I honestly don’t know how I would cope in his shoes. The guilt, the questions, the memories, it’s a lot for one mind to carry. Maybe God has a plan for his life cos it is unbelievable to see him walk through the crash alive without sustaining many injuries.
If I ever got a second chance like that, I think I would try to live more intentionally. I would spend more time with the people I love, take fewer things for granted, and try to make a difference in any little way I can. Life can be so unpredictable, and stories like this remind me that every single day really is a gift.
Trauma impacts us all differently and it is hard to compare one against the other, but this is pretty extreme for anyone. Make s the people who have trauma because their parents didn't buy them the lates t shoes, seem quite silly.
And today is a day you can do this. As is tomorrow. We should all do this, right? :)
Because of how I tend to view the world I think he still has something he needs to do that only he can do, and along that vein in a similar situation I would assume I still had something I needed to do that for whatever reason maybe only I could do and that would have to keep me going as I'd be mentally in about a bazillion pieces after something like that DX
and if it turns out there is some kind of higher power and existence post-death they'd be getting a stern talking to
"Unfinished business" returned him?
What a workaholic! :D
But, I think that these kinds of beliefs are how we are able to make sense of the senseless.
Right?! XD
Hopefully they worked out what went wrong, it's a right mess.
I would definitely be putting my two cents in.
That's probably a very common thought now.
I think what it lead to was someone's lack in testing. Such a big aircraft which have to load hundreds of people just crashed in 2 min, it's really shocking. Either there's a technical issue which was missed during the time of testing or either someone intentionally made a mistake, I'm just coming across such kinds of news giving one reason or the other but it's really strange that such a big incident is made. The luck remained with the guy who survived but I think the focus should on those people instead who died while the plane crashed and with those medical students who were there in that building and having there lunch. Losing hundreds of lives isn't a small deal.!
I would definitely do the best I can with the second chance. Somehow I can't imagine feeling the survival guilt.
Such a heartbreaking situation. I can’t even imagine the weight he must carry. Survivor’s guilt is real and I hope he finds peace somehow. Sometimes there just aren’t any answers that make sense.
oh man.. what a trip! I think I would be in shock for some time and forever be changed.. especially in how i think about life.. 😉😎👊
Definitely final destination vibes. Hopefully his family help him pull through as he still has to come to terms with his brothers death. Jeez the adrenalin rush must have been intense to get him up and out that gap sharp as you like. So many people online are calling bullshit because they can't comprehend it themselves. Actually it's been quite appalling in many ways - racism against Indians and homophobic comments about the English couple have proliferated in online spaces.
Mental. I was on a flight back from Bali at the time and we heard when we landed.