Dr. Roberto Canessa, who resorted to cannibalism after a 1972 plane crash in the Andes Mountains, is looking back on that fateful accident.
Canessa recounted the crash, in which 16 of 45 passengers and crew members stayed alive in freezing conditions by eating the dead, in a “Today” show interview that aired Thursday.
“I thought I was going to die,” he said.
The segment was partly spurred by “Society of the Snow,” a thriller about the harrowing disaster that’s set to stream on Netflix next month in the U.S. Canessa, who was part of a Uruguayan rugby team headed for a match in Chile at the time of the incident, has already seen the film.
“I was immersed in that place again,” Canessa said in the interview. “I was back to the fuselage.”
Those who ultimately survived Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which left Montevideo for Santiago before crashing in October 1972, managed to hold on for 72 days. There were 33 initial survivors, until an avalanche and starvation claimed a handful of lives.
Canessa, who was a 19-year-old medical student at the time of the accident, told “Today” about the decision to eat the dead.
“I thought if I would die,” he said, “I would be proud that my body would be used for someone else.”
The doctor has previously recalled how the survivors cut the flesh off the dead “amid much torment and soul-searching,” and laying “the thin strips of frozen flesh aside on a piece of sheet metal.”
“Each of us finally consumed our piece when we could bear to,” he said in a book.
Bettmann/Getty Images
This was dramatized in “Alive,” a 1993 film starring Ethan Hawke. The true story also strongly parallels the premise of “Yellowjackets,” a TV series touching on the legal and psychological consequences of cannibalism.
Canessa told People in 2016 that he and another teammate eventually managed to find a shepherd who “was generous enough to go and search for help for us.” He also said that something his mother told him long before the crash had helped saved him.
“I remembered very vividly my mother and I went to [visit the mother of] a friend who had died and she was devastated,” he told People. “And my mother told me, ‘If one of my children died, I couldn’t make it through life, I would die of sadness.’ So I had to go back and tell my mother, ‘Don’t cry anymore, I’m alive.’ So I think that was the driving force for me.”
Canessa, who is now a pediatric cardiologist, reportedly has regular reunions with other crash survivors. While he has no tips on how to survive a plane crash, he offered People one bit of advice: “You shouldn’t wait for your plane to fall to enjoy and be grateful for life.”
Support HuffPostThe Stakes Have Never Been Higher
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Our News, Politics and Culture teams invest time and care working on hard-hitting investigations and researched analyses, along with quick but robust daily takes. Our Life, Health and Shopping desks provide you with well-researched, expert-vetted information you need to live your best life, while HuffPost Personal, Voices and Opinion center real stories from real people.
Help keep news free for everyone by giving us as little as $1. Your contribution will go a long way.
At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.
Help keep news free for everyone by giving us as little as $1. Your contribution will go a long way.
As the 2024 presidential race heats up, the very foundations of our democracy are at stake. A vibrant democracy is impossible without well-informed citizens. This is why HuffPost’s journalism is free for everyone, not just those who can afford expensive paywalls.
We cannot do this without your help. Support our newsroom by contributing as little as $1 a month.
As the 2024 presidential race heats up, the very foundations of our democracy are at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a vibrant democracy is impossible without well-informed citizens. This is why we keep our journalism free for everyone, even as most other newsrooms have retreated behind expensive paywalls.
Our newsroom continues to bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes on one of the most consequential elections in recent history. Reporting on the current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly — and we need your help.
Support our newsroom by contributing as little as $1 a month.
Support HuffPost
>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : The Huffington Post – https://www.huffpost.com/entry/survivor-of-1972-plane-crash-recalls-his-fight-to-live-by-resorting-to-cannibalism_n_656b3f9be4b07b937ff4c4a5