Dimensions
155 x 235 x 25mm
"The story of the 1972 Andes plane crash and rescue, made famous by Piers Paul Read in his book Alive, finally told by one of the heroes who saved his team-mates"
"The mountains, for all their power, were not stronger than my attachment to my father. They could not crush my ability to love. I felt a moment of calmness and clarity of mind I discovered as a simple astounding secret. Death has an opposite, but the opposite is not mere living. It is not courage or faith or human will. The opposite of death is love. How had I missed that? Love is our only weapon. For a brief, magical moment, all my fears lifted, and I knew that I would not let death control me. I could walk through the godforsaken country that separated me from my home with love and hope in my heart. I would walk until I had walked all the life out of me and when I fell I would die that much closer to my father
On 13 October 1972, the members of a top Uruguayan rugby team were flying over the Andes to play in Chile. Their plane crashed into a mountain and was stranded 11,000 feet up on an inhospitable glacier. Many died instantly in the crash, including the person sitting next to Nando, but others survived. They had almost no food or suitable equipment to withstand temperatures as low as-35C, and had to eat the bodies of dead team-mates to survive. With the prospect only of a slow death, and no rescue likely, Nando and one of his friends set off on an impossible journey, walking and climbing for ten days in search of help. Finally, after 72 days, the 16 survivors were brought to safety.
Parrado's unique viewpoint brings a new perspective to this remarkable story. His hugely inspirational tale shows how the strength of the human spirit, the close bond of friendship and faith can make you achieve the impossible. He explains how, once you realise that you must surely die, no risk becomes too great. Above all, Parrado came to understand that the opposite of death wasn't life, but love. And it was love, for his waiting father and the mother and sister who died in the crash, that saw him home."
