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What I survived
Surviving a 15,000 Foot Freefall: Brad's Impossible Story
What are the odds of surviving a fall from 15,000 feet in the air? It's the equivalent of plummeting from half the height of Mount Everest. The answer should be zero and yet, somehow, Brad lived to tell the story.
At 22 years old, Brad was the kind of person who lit up every room, outgoing, gregarious, full of life. So when his family gave him a belated birthday present of a tandem skydive, it seemed like the perfect thrill for someone who embraced adventure. But what happened next was every skydiver's nightmare.
The main parachute would fail to open properly, then the reserve chute tangled with the first. Brad and his instructor spun violently through the air like rag dolls caught in a vortex, hurtling toward the ground at 80 kilometers per hour with no way to stop. They hit the earth with devastating force.
Against all odds, they both survived. But survival came at a brutal cost. Brad's spine was broken. His neck torn. And the invisible wounds, the severe depression, the PTSD, the psychological trauma of falling through the sky knowing you're about to die, those scars ran even deeper.
This is the story of what happened when Brad's parachutes failed. But more than that, it's the story of what happened after.
Find Brads book here
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is avaliable:
Australia Lifeline: 13 11 14 | lifeline.org.au Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 | beyondblue.org.au Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 | suicidecallbackservice.org.au
New Zealand Lifeline NZ: 0800 543 354 | lifeline.org.nz Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 Need to Talk: Free text or call 1737 | 1737.org.nz
United Kingdom Samaritans: 116 123 | samaritans.org PAPYRUS (under 35s): 0800 068 4141 | papyrus-uk.org Mind: 0300 123 3393 | mind.org.uk
United States 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 | 988lifeline.org Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 | crisistextline.org
For a broader international list covering additional countries, hotpeachpages.net
More episodes
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What I Survived - Season 1
02:22||Season 1, Ep. 0What I Survived explores extraordinary true stories of people who lived through the unthinkable. Each episode begins with who these people were before everything changed, then takes listeners inside the moment their lives were pushed to the edge: shipwrecked at sea for weeks, held captive by terrorists, falling 15,000 feet after a parachute failure, held in Indian prison for 10 years and other extreme, life-or-death situations.Through first-hand accounts, we follow the ordeal as it unfolded, the split-second decisions made under unimaginable pressure, and the sheer will it took to survive. Then comes what happens after: the physical and psychological recovery, and the long process of rebuilding a life forever altered.From the creator of award-winning podcasts One Minute Remaining and Wanted comes... What I Survived
2. The Robertson Family - 38 days at Sea P2
27:59||Season 1, Ep. 2In June 1972, the Robertson family set sail on what should have been the adventure of a lifetime aboard their schooner, Lucette. But when killer whales attacked and sank their vessel in the Pacific Ocean, Dougal Robertson, his wife Lyn, their three sons, and a family friend found themselves adrift in a tiny life raft hundreds of miles from land, with minimal supplies and no hope of rescue.What followed was 38 harrowing days lost at sea, battling dehydration, starvation, and the psychological breaking point that comes with complete isolation in one of the most hostile environments on Earth. With no GPS, no modern technology, and no communication with the outside world, the Robertsons were forced to survive on rainwater, raw fish, and turtle blood while drifting through an area of ocean larger than most countries.This is the true story of one family's fight for survival against impossible odds. How they caught food with their bare hands. How they rationed every drop of water. The unthinkable conversations they had about what they'd be willing to do if rescue never came. And the remarkable resilience that kept them alive when most would have perished.From the moment the whales struck to their miraculous rescue over a month later, this is the complete account of the Robertson family shipwreck one of the most extraordinary survival stories in maritime history.
1. The Robertson Family - 38 days at Sea P1
28:37||Season 1, Ep. 1In June 1972, the Robertson family set sail on what should have been the adventure of a lifetime aboard their schooner, Lucette. But when killer whales attacked and sank their vessel in the Pacific Ocean, Dougal Robertson, his wife Lyn, their three sons, and a family friend found themselves adrift in a tiny life raft hundreds of miles from land, with minimal supplies and no hope of rescue.What followed was 38 harrowing days lost at sea, battling dehydration, starvation, and the psychological breaking point that comes with complete isolation in one of the most hostile environments on Earth. With no GPS, no modern technology, and no communication with the outside world, the Robertsons were forced to survive on rainwater, raw fish, and turtle blood while drifting through an area of ocean larger than most countries.This is the true story of one family's fight for survival against impossible odds. How they caught food with their bare hands. How they rationed every drop of water. The unthinkable conversations they had about what they'd be willing to do if rescue never came. And the remarkable resilience that kept them alive when most would have perished.From the moment the whales struck to their miraculous rescue over a month later, this is the complete account of the Robertson family shipwreck, one of the most extraordinary survival stories in maritime history told by the man that lived through the experience.
3. The Robertson Family - 38 days at Sea P3
47:34||Season 1, Ep. 3In June 1972, the Robertson family set sail on what should have been the adventure of a lifetime aboard their schooner, Lucette. But when killer whales attacked and sank their vessel in the Pacific Ocean, Dougal Robertson, his wife Lyn, their three sons, and a family friend found themselves adrift in a tiny life raft hundreds of miles from land, with minimal supplies and no hope of rescue.What followed was 38 harrowing days lost at sea, battling dehydration, starvation, and the psychological breaking point that comes with complete isolation in one of the most hostile environments on Earth. With no GPS, no modern technology, and no communication with the outside world, the Robertsons were forced to survive on rainwater, raw fish, and turtle blood while drifting through an area of ocean larger than most countries.This is the true story of one family's fight for survival against impossible odds. How they caught food with their bare hands. How they rationed every drop of water. The unthinkable conversations they had about what they'd be willing to do if rescue never came. And the remarkable resilience that kept them alive when most would have perished.From the moment the whales struck to their miraculous rescue over a month later, this is the complete account of the Robertson family shipwreck one of the most extraordinary survival stories in maritime history.