• When disaster strikes, it is so often children
who suffer the most.
But just because you’re small, does it mean you won’t survive?
And does extreme youth have an advantage in some perilous situations?
Here are fifteen children who survived the impossible.
15 - , Willie Myrick • 9-year-old Willie Myrick was hanging out
in his driveway one spring afternoon when a stranger caught his attention and forced
him into his car.
The stranger drove for over three hours while Willie, frightened for his life, began singing
his favourite gospel song at the top of his voice.
The kidnapper shouted at Willie to cut it out, but Willie kept it up until eventually,
the exasperated child-snatcher stopped the car and freed willie out of pure annoyance.
Halleluiah 14 - , Erika Delgado
• In 1995, a Colombian farmer heard the sounds of crying from a mound of seaweed in
a marsh near Cartagena.
The cries came from 10-year-old Erika Delgado, who had miraculously survived a fall from
an exploding airplane.
As the aircraft broke up in the sky, the girl said her mother had pushed her out of the
plane and her 1000 foot fall had been cushioned by the seaweed.
Erika was the only survivor from over 50 victims.
13 - , Keston Wachenheim • After a few minor falls from her young
son Keston, Cynthia Wachenheim became obsessed with the idea that she had allowed him to
become permanently brain damaged.
Deciding that she couldn't bear the guilt, a psychologically pained Cynthia threw herself
from the eighth-storey window of their New York apartment.
Despite being strapped to her in a baby carrier, Keston survived the fall which tragically
killed his mother.
12 - , Thomas Richards • In 2016, Thomas Richards was born, looking
like a normal healthy baby.
But the infant was born without a 'trachea' or windpipe, and was unable to breathe.
With only five survivors from 200 cases recorded in medical history, Thomas' odds weren't looking
good.
But surgeons were able to build separate tubes to both his lungs and stomach, using his existing
oesophagus.
With advances in stem cell research, Thomas may find himself with a brand-new breathing
pipe soon enough.
11 - , Barbara Puc • The Nazi Holocaust of the 30s and 40s
took the lives of millions, but within the horror lie some stories of survival.
Barbara Puc (“putz”) was born in 1944 on a brick furnace in the camp of Auschwitz.
Her mother was near death after her birth, and Barbara was breastfed by a Russian woman
who had recently lost her child.
Amazingly, Barbara survived the camp, even under the watch of infamous child experimenter
Josef Mengele.
10 - , The Spincken Brothers • In 2016, in another tragic suicide, father
of two boys, John Spincken, climbed onto the roof of his car and leapt off a highway overpass
bridge into the forest 100 feet below.
He was holding his one and three-year-old sons in his arms as he fell, but both boys
escaped the ordeal with a full recovery.
Reports suggest a history of domestic violence and recent arguments with his wife.
9 - , Jake Finkbonner • After getting a split lip playing basketball,
Jake Finkbonner didn't think he'd find himself in hospital.
But within 24 hours, Jake's face had been ravaged by a flesh-eating bacteria that was
destroying more than an inch of skin every couple hours.
Told by doctors that Jake didn't have long to live, his parents prayed to native American
catholic Kateri, who is now being considered for sainthood.
Shortly after surgeons were able to eliminate the usually fatal infection.
8 - , Matthew Mitchell • The notorious funnel-web spider is the
one of the deadliest creatures on the planet.
Their bite can kill a child in as little as 15 minutes.
10-year-old Matthew Mitchell was bitten on the hand and rushed to hospital.
Doctors gave him a total of twelve vials of antivenom, the biggest dose in Australia's
history.
The antivenom was so effective, Matthew was walking out of hospital unscathed a day later.
7 - , Autumn Veatch • In 2015, Autumn Veatch had been taken
out for a flying trip in her grandparents' small plane, but a problem on board sent the
aircraft crashing into the Cascade mountains.
Both grandparents were killed in the crash despite Autumn's efforts to rescue them from
the fiery wreckage.
She had to hike for two days through the wilderness before being found by the side of a highway.
6 - ,Elizabeth Shoaf • While walking home off the school bus,
14-year-old Elizabeth Shoaf was accosted by a man dressed as a policeman.
The man, who was in fact an unemployed construction worker, dragged the girl to a bunker near
his home in the woods.
Enduring ten days of assault, Elizabeth was able to convince the man to lend her his phone
to play games.
She sent messages to friends and family and within a day, police had triangulated her
position and rescued her from the nightmare.
5 - , Yahya Abdhi • An immigrant from Somalia, Yahya Abdhi
missed his mother back in Africa.
So, he decided to hop on the next flight heading west from California.
But without the funds for a ticket, he instead clambered up the wheel shaft of the aircraft
and survived the five and half hour journey to the Hawaii stopover.
The freezing temperatures and lack of oxygen would have been enough for most people, but
nothing can stop a homesick teen it seems.
4 - , Mackenzie Wethington • As a 16th birthday present, Mackenzie
Wethington was taken on a skydiving trip in Oklahoma.
But an issue with twisted lines prevented the parachute from opening, meaning the teenager
performed a freefall of 3000 feet and hit the ground.
To the disbelief of medical professionals, Mackenzie survived, although with several
trauma injuries.
She has since been awarded over $700,000 in damages against the skydiving school, and
the minimum age for falling was raised to 18.
3 - , Bahia Bakari • In 2009, French schoolgirl Bahia Bakari
was on a flight over the Indian Ocean with her mother.
The plane crashed into the ocean, killing everyone on board except for Bahia, who was
flung into the water.
The 12-year-old couldn't swim, and so she clung on to debris in the water until she
was rescued after three hours.
She was flown back to France for a bittersweet reunion with her father.
2 - , Payton Leutner • For something that started as an internet
meme, it may seem strange that the mythical figure of the Slenderman might command enough
respect for human sacrifice.
In 2016, two 14-year-old schoolmates lured Payton Leutner to the woods and stabbed her
19 times, hoping that her death would please the fictional phantom.
Payton recovered fully, while her attackers face charges of either murder or insanity.
1 - , Norman Ollestadt Jr • Norman Ollestadt's father was a real adrenaline
junkie, from skiing to surfing to flying.
That all ended in 1979 when a light aircraft crashed, killing Norman's father and the pilot.
The eleven year old boy navigated his way down the mountain with his father's girlfriend,
but she was killed after a bad fall.
Incredibly, the boy made it down the slopes, using the skills his deceased father had taught
him.