10-Ken Smith
Ken Smith was a hermit, living deep in a Scottish forest. Though he wanted to live away
from society, Smith was forced to call for help when a pile of logs tumbled over, injuring him.
This was not the first time the self-isolated man needed to be rescued.
A year before, he had gone back on the grid to get medical aid.
Considering his advanced age, the injuries might have proven deadly had he refused to
contact emergency services. Smith used his personal emergency beacon, which was linked
to a United States satellite. The distress signal was relayed to authorities in the United Kingdom,
and a rescue helicopter was promptly deployed. Smith, known locally as “The Hermit”, usually used
this device to check in on his family, letting them know he’s alright. But the SOS alert mode
informed the authorities he was in dire need of assistance.
The aircraft couldn’t land close to the cabin, so seven first-responders descended into the woods.
After getting Smith on a stretcher, they were able to transport him to the Belford Hospital.
9-Tyson Steele
During a trip to the Alaskan wilderness, Tyson Steele was involved in an accident
that left him exposed to the elements. His hut burned down, after a fire had started on his stove
and spread much faster than Steele could react. The location was particularly isolated
as it could only be reached by air with the aircraft landing on the ice surrounding the
hut. Almost everything Steele had had with him was destroyed in the fire,
and he endured three weeks in the snow. Steele built a makeshift shelter around the stove, and
discovered food by rummaging through the wreckage. Fortunately, there were several jars of beans and
peanut butter to keep him alive. The survivalist managed to write a large SOS sign in the snow,
using ashes to colour it black and make it more visible. Three weeks later Steele
was rescued by Alaskan state troopers who spotted him while flying overhead.
8-Stranded marines
When three marines went missing, the Coast guard immediately launched a rescue mission.
Civilian volunteers were enlisted, as was usual in the Micronesia area. The marines’ small vessel had
run out of fuel on a return trip and the three men were forced to find the closest shore. They
managed to survive, but became stranded on Fanadik Island, a small and remote location 124 miles away
from where they had initially departed. The men adapted to their new situation quickly. They drew
a giant SOS signal in the sand and created a makeshift shelter. It took authorities three
days to locate the stranded marines. A rescue helicopter landed on the island and the pilot
provided the men with water and food until a patrol vessel arrived to take them home.
7-Stranded at Sea
Two unnamed men suffered an accident while sailing off the coast of Perth.
The details of the incident weren’t released to the public. They were left stranded at sea,
clinging onto life jackets in order to survive. Fortunately, one of them managed to retrieve
an emergency marine flare, and shot it into the sky. Several civilians called the police
after noticing the lights in the sky, less than a mile away from Burns Beach. Soon they
confirmed the incident thanks to an EPIRB, or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon,
being activated in the area. Soon after a rescue party was deployed, the shipwrecked victims were
located by a helicopter surveilling the area. One of the paramedics on the chopper descended
into the water. He secured the men with a cable and hoisted them up.
They were transported to the Fiona Stanley Hospital, where they made a full recovery.
6-Unnamed woman
A couple of friends decided to take a 5-day-canoe trip down the Spanish River in Northwestern
Ontario. Halfway through their excursion, the women had a heated argument. One of them decided
to storm away, taking the canoe and leaving the other stranded. The young woman from Sudbury soon
realized she was unable to leave the area. With only limited food and the tent they had shared,
she tried her best to alert first responders of her situation. She quickly realized that there was
no cell service in the area. The unnamed traveler then scratched an SOS signal on the sand, before
inflating her sleeping pad. She then floated down the river on it, until she arrived at a spot where
she could finally use her phone. A helicopter scouted the area and she was rescued the next
morning, after having spent the whole night attempting to find her way back to civilization.
The friend who’d left her could face legal consequences pertaining to reckless abandonment.
5-Deborah Pilgrim
55-year-old Australian Deborah Pilgrim took a camping trip with a few of her friends in
a bushland area not far from Adelaide. She left the campsite to take a walk, but soon realized
that she couldn’t find her way back. For three days, local authorities and emergency personnel
were unable to locate her. A rescue helicopter was called in to scout the remote area.
Fortunately for Pilgrim, a man remotely monitored security footage from his lands,
and noticed something wasn’t quite right. An SOS sign had been scrawled on the ground. He
immediately contacted the police. Soon after, the missing woman was found near a body of water,
and was immediately driven to the hospital to be examined.
4-Family of five
During a family trip, five people went missing while sailing a boat
in the English town of Ventnor. Two adults and three children found themselves in trouble
after hitting the rocks of Bembridge Ledge. Fortunately, they’d carried a flare with them,
and managed to alert authorities by shooting it into the sky. The coastguard quickly responded
and launched a search for the missing family. They were discovered soon after.
It became evident that the engine had been badly damaged, rendering the boat
non-functional. They were returned to shore without having suffered any injuries. The
rescue was considered a swift success, as it had started at 18.05 and ended at 19.30.
3-Curtis Whitson and his family
For Curtis Whitson and his family a message in a bottle ended up making the difference between life
and death. During a camping trip in California, the Whitson family decided to explore a gorge.
They became stuck above a 40-foot waterfall, unable to descend or use their cellphone
to call for help. The family was quick to react, knowing that time was of the
essence. They used nearby stones to spell out SOS. Since they feared the distress signal
wouldn’t be noticed soon enough, Whitson also scratched “help” on his water bottle. He wrote
an additional note explaining where they were located, and stuck it in the container
before throwing it down the waterfall. Hikers exploring the area soon discovered the bottle,
and they alerted the authorities. A helicopter was subsequently deployed.
It swiftly noticed the SOS signal, and rescued Whitson, his girlfriend and 13-year-old son.
2-Nugent family
Eight Queensland residents, all part of the same family, hopped on a boat during September 2020
and headed to North West Island. Midway to their destination, their vessel began to take on water
for an unknown reason. Realizing that they were sinking, the Nugent family set off an EPIRB or
Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. This works as a distress signal to alert authorities
about an emergency at sea. The 5 adults and 3 children, including an 8-month-old baby,
then jumped on a life raft. They all had their life jackets on by the time coastguards arrived
and brought them back to shore. Fortunately, none of the family members had been hurt,
but the father was concerned about what had sunk alongside their boat.
“We lost all the beer!” He told authorities as all 8 family members were rescued.
1-Pete Brown
Pete Brown and two other sailors were traveling from Osaka to Hawaii, when a
storm dismantled their mast. They were stuck, unable to sail back to shore and surrounded by
nothing but ocean water. Nine days went by since authorities had lost communication with the crew.
When Brown noticed a vessel passing by, it was too far for the three men to cry for help,
so they attempted to catch the boatmen’s attention with a flare. This didn’t work, and the three
sailors started to lose hope. That was when they took a desperate last shot and started
using mirrors to catch the ship’s attention. Since the area was so remote, it was unlikely
other vessels would’ve been sailing by any time soon, so it was their best chance at survival.
For days the authorities had been searching for the men in vain with HC-130 Hercules and Poseidon
Airplanes. Fortunately, the mirror signal worked and Brown, along with the other two men on board,
were rescued. Brown was reunited with his wife and 8-year-old son in Hawaii.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather get stuck in the middle of the ocean or
in Australia's outback? Let us know in the comments section below!