The woman who survived a plane crash in the jungle - Lives Less Ordinary podcast, BBC World Service

Описание: How a romantic getaway ended in disaster.

Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM

Dutch financier Annette Herfkens boarded Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 in November 1992, embarking on what was meant to be a romantic break with her fiancé Willem van der Pas or ‘Pasje’.

But fate had other plans. Midway through the flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the coastal resort of Nha Trang, the Soviet-built Yakovlev Yak-40 encountered severe weather and slammed into a remote, fog-shrouded mountain ridge in the dense Vietnamese jungle.

The impact was catastrophic, killing all 30 other passengers and crew on board, including Annette's beloved Pasje.

Incredibly, Annette emerged as the sole survivor of the crash, defying odds in one of the most amazing real-life tales of endurance. Thrown from the wreckage with devastating injuries—including a collapsed lung, a broken jaw, two fractured legs, and a dozen fractures in her hips—she found herself stranded amid the twisted metal and bodies of her fellow travellers.

Unable to walk or even crawl far, she endured eight gruelling days in the unforgiving wilderness, battling excruciating pain, dehydration, and the psychological torment of her loss. With no food, she sustained herself solely on rainwater collected from the jungle foliage, her will to live fuelled by sheer determination and fleeting moments of hope that a rescue would come.

00:00 Coming up in this episode
00:30 Intro
01:09 How Annette meets Willem, her fiancé at the time
03:49 Annette and Willem go to a trip on a plane in Vietnam
06:41 Annette describes the moment of the crash
08:29 Annette tries to survive for 8 days in the jungle
17:05 Annette finds a resorceful way to drinks rain water
20:21 Annette tells of when Willem bought her a ring
23:08 Annette sees a man and tries to get him to help her
26:39 Annette arrives in the hospital at Ho Chi Minh City
29:21 Annette attends Willem’s funeral
33:29 Annette goes back to the place of the crash
37:55 Outro

Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Edgar Maddicott
Video Producer: Beatrice Guzzardi

Watch more from Lives Less Ordinary on our YouTube playlist 👉🏽    • Lives Less Ordinary  
----------------
This is the official BBC World Service YouTube channel.
If you like what we do, you can also find us here:
Instagram 👉🏽   / bbcworldservice  
Twitter 👉🏽   / bbcworldservice  
Facebook 👉🏽   / bbcworldservice  
BBC World Service website 👉🏽 https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio

Thanks for watching and subscribing!
#BBCWorldService #WorldService #annetteherfkens #planecrash #planecrashsurvivor