In this episode, we’re diving into the unbelievable true survival story told in Ruthless River by Holly FitzGerald, a book I truly could not put down. It is an exciting, heart pounding, and deeply inspiring account of how a dream honeymoon turned into a fight for survival in the Amazon jungle.
Holly and her husband, Gerald William FitzGerald, known as Fitz, set out to travel the world on a modest budget. They never imagined that their trip of a lifetime could have been their last.
Before we get into the chaos of the jungle, we are unpacking the backstory of Holly and Fitz. From a chance meeting at a Halloween party in Boston in 1969 to marrying just five months later, their love story is bold from the very beginning.
They saved carefully from their modest jobs, Holly as a counselor and teacher and Fitz as a journalist, in order to fund a yearlong honeymoon traveling the globe. What started as an ambitious backpacking journey through South America slowly transformed into something far more dangerous.
In Part 1, we cover the major turning points that shifted their honeymoon into survival mode:
By the end of this episode, Holly and Fitz are launching their bright pink tarp covered raft, “The Pink Palace,” into a rising and unpredictable river, convinced it will carry them safely to Bolivia. What they do not yet understand is that the river has other plans.
Part 2 covers their first five days on the river. Part 3 dives into the unimaginable ordeal that followed and the rescue that brought them home.
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