"Deep Survival": Why Some Survive Disasters While Other's Don't
One woman who survived five days in a shark-infested sea recited the Lord's Prayer during her darkest moments. "As long as I kept saying those words, I knew I was all right," she said. "It was my only proof that I had not gone mad."
In a fascinating report entitled, Miraculous Survivors: Why They Live While Others Die, CNN has listed some common denominators linking survivors of disasters. Many of them go against conventional wisdom, according to researcher Laurence Gonzales, author of "Deep Survival," a book that "dissects the psychological and spiritual transformation that takes place within people who survive against all odds." (Photo: Vaseliv Leonid)
For example, Gonzales is quoted as saying many of the disaster survivors he studied weren't the most skilled, the strongest or the most experienced in their group; as a matter-of-fact, he notes, those who seemed best suited for survival—the strongest or most skilled—were often the first to die off in life-or-death struggles. The lesson to be learned, he believes, is that experience and physical strength can lead to carelessness.
"Humility can keep you out of trouble," Gonzales says. "If you go busting into the wilderness with the attitude that you know what's going on, you're liable to miss important cues. These [survivors] are people who tend to have a view of the world that does not paint them as a victim. They're not whiners who are always complaining about the bad things that are happening to them and expecting to get rescued."
Gonzales is also quoted as saying many survivors pay attention to their "intuition," and gives a personal example of how his life was spared from a catastrophic airplane crash when he followed his gut instincts.
The report also highlights the celebrated story of Deborah Scaling Kiley who joined an ill-fated sea adventure in Maine in 1982, despite having serious reservations about joining it. When the yacht sunk in a fierce storm, Kiley contends that the boat crew quickly divided into two camps; basically the positive and the negative. She reportedly kept her distance from two male companions in the boat who bickered and cursed with the others. Ultimately, Kiley and a different male companion survived five days adrift in the Atlantic, but three of their comrades succumbed to dehydration and shark attacks. As one man was attacked by sharks near to where Kiley was floating, she recalls she began reciting the Lord's Prayer.
"As long as I kept saying those words, I knew I was all right," she said. "It was my only proof that I had not gone mad."
