She is the only survivor of a plane crash, and she hiked throught he woods alone for two days to get help. We are utterly in awe of 16-year-old Autumn Veatch's survival story. And when we heard how she tried to save her grandparents our hearts broke wide open over this superhero.
It happened on a flight from Montana to her home in Bellingham, Washington. Veatch describes the first harrowing moments after the crash. The plane burst into flames as she clambered out, but her grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman, remained trapped by the fire. She told Good Morning America that she burned her hand trying to pull them out. "I was just trying to do what I could to get them out. It was a lot of adrenaline."
But the fire was too much, and Veatch had to watch her grandparents die right in front of her. "That's something that's really going to haunt me," she told NBC News. But before they died she was able to tell them "I loved them and that it would be okay." She knew they would be grateful knowing she had survived.
And what a survival. She hiked down a steep slope and followed a creek to a river, slept through two chilly nights, was certain she would die of hypothermia -- and she fell off a cliff! She almost gave up, "And then I got this surge of willpower," Veatch says, "and was like, there's no way I can die without hugging someone again."
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Eventually the river led to a trail, which led to a highway where she hitched a ride to a general store.
Oh this girl. She must have some incredible resilience to walk away from the wreckage after seeing her grandparents die and then claw her way for two days to find help. Every parent would want their child to persevere like this. Was it her youth that gave her strength -- or was it knowing that there were hugs waiting for her if she made it?
I have to think that having loved ones in her life, whether friends or family, must have given Veatch greater strength. But that drive to survive came from deep inside of her, and she should be proud.
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Image via King5.com