True Survival

In 1993, Donna Palomba was raped by a masked assailant in her own home. Yet, her story is more than a victim's tale of physical and emotional recovery. It is a story of one woman's hunt for justice while fending off attacks by institutions designed to defend and protect her - the police department, the local government, and a community clinging to an outrageous claim that Donna had invented the crime to cover up a sexual affair.

For more than a century, plane crashes have been among the scariest catastrophes imaginable. The toll on human life is devastating. Yet, as this fascinating book reveals, there are some who defy the odds and survive the unsurvivable. In this riveting collection of true stories from sole survivors, we get an inside look at their harrowing ordeal that changed their lives forever. We get a glimpse of their lives before and after the accident, explore the possible causes of their plane crash, and dive into the haunting yet fascinating details of the fateful day they fell from the sky.

Written and read by Jessica Watson, this is the story of a remarkable girl who followed her dream and conquered the world. There is something different about adventurers, about the way their minds work. They look at the world as a place of challenges and though they know what fear is, they refuse to be hindered by it.

When her father died, singer songwriter Roxanne de Bastion inherited a piano she knew had been in her family for over a hundred years. But it is only when she finds a cassette recording of her grandfather, Stephen, playing one of his compositions, the true and almost unbelievable history of the piano, this man and her family begins to unravel.

I have my own survival stories, and maybe this is part of the reason why all these other stories interest me so much. Everyone loves to learn about survival stories because it confirms the importance of the human spirit to live through trying and deadly situations. I’ve included 33 true-life stories in this book. The people in these stories have all illustrated the power of the human spirit to live through difficult experiences.

A romantic wilderness cabin becomes a dream-box of catastrophe and survival, in this true adventure with a paranormal twist. Will, a treeplanter, hikes with a companion to meet his wife and 3-year-old daughter in BC's remote Jumbo Pass. An overnight storm pushes them to the brink of deadly choices, at fate's mercy. Caught in the strands of a deadly time-loop, Will must navigate a series of doorways to survival. Each choice means a different outcome, a different life… or even death. The story’s mystery plays out against the backdrop of vast natural beauty in the Purcell Mountains of ...

December 13, 1920. It was a typical Monday morning when three US Navy officials boarded a hot-air balloon for an easy, routine training flight. But as evening came, heavy rain and wind knocked Lieutenants Louis Kloor, Stephen Farrell, and Walter Hinton off course, eventually forcing a crash landing deep within the snowy Canadian wilderness. As the men searched for salvation, they were overcome by freezing temperatures, starvation, and fatigue. To survive this harrowing experience, the brave military officers would have to go up against their greatest enemies yet.

On December 13, 1944, POW Estel Myers was herded aboard the Japanese prison ship, the Oryoku Maru, with more than 1,600 other American captives. More than 1,100 of them would be dead by journey's end... The son of a Kentucky sharecropper and an enlistee in the Navy's medical corps, Myers arrived in Manilla shortly before the bombings of Pearl Harbor and the other six targets of the Imperial Japanese military.

In October 1934, the Chinese Communist Army found itself facing annihilation, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Nationalist soldiers. Rather than surrender, 86,000 Communists embarked on an epic flight to safety. Only 30 were women. Their trek would eventually cover 4,000 miles over 370 days. Under enemy fire they crossed highland swamps, climbed Tibetan peaks, scrambled over chain bridges, and trudged through the sands of the western deserts.

On January 19, 2000, a fire raged through the freshman dormitory at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, killing three students and injuring 58 others. Among the victims were Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos, roommates from poor neighborhoods who made their families proud by getting into college. They managed to escape the fire, but both were burned terribly.

In 1990, David Muller set sail to Mozambique with his wife and two young children, to fulfil a boyhood dream of sailing to the tropics on the yacht he had spent ten years building. The dream holiday came to a shocking end when the yacht ran aground on a beach near Bazaruto Islands. While waiting for high tide to refloat the yacht, a patrol of Renamo child soldiers, armed with AK47’s, arrive, along with two adult captives.

With four years in the Parachute Regiment, 10 years in the SAS and two Everest summits to his name, no one is better equipped than Jay Morton to reveal what it takes to become the best of the best. Soldier is Jay Morton’s masterclass in mindset, strategy and excellence. Drawing on his extraordinary personal experience, it provides in-depth, comprehensive lessons and practical takeaways.

Growing up in the Polish village of Tarnogrod on the fringes of a deep pine forest gives Mala the happiest childhood she could have hoped for. But, as the German invasion begins, her beloved village becomes a ghetto and her family and friends are reduced to starvation. She takes matters into her own hands and bravely removes her yellow star, risking sneaking out to the surrounding villages to barter for food.

The stories in this book are all true. Most began with a dream and conscientious study of maps and logistics. Others are true adventures. Most accounts are anecdotes taken from Cliff Jacobson's experiences as a professional canoeist guide in Minnesota and Canada.

Young and in love, their lives ahead of them, Tami Oldham and her fiancé, Richard Sharp, set sail from Tahiti under brilliant blue skies, with Tami’s hometown of San Diego as their ultimate destination. But the two free spirits and avid sailors couldn’t anticipate that less than two weeks into their voyage, they would sail directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history. They found themselves battling pounding rain, waves the size of skyscrapers, and 140 knot winds.

Kingdom of Wolves–The Journey is a true story of survival and the soul’s journey to freedom, reclamation, redemption, and wholeness of spirit. The author was a silent victim of domestic abuse that spanned a period of three decades; she was not only held captive by her abuser but also her own low self-esteem, fears, and insecurities.

After surviving a terrorist attack, Watson Drake began to wonder what horrible thing the terrorists could be planning next. In addition, he realizes that disasters are not limited to just whatever havoc the terrorists may create, the earth and society have their own share of problems as well.

Journalist Nicole Madigan was stalked for over three years. The relentless and debilitating experience wreaked havoc in her personal and professional life, leaving her trapped in a constant state of fear and anxiety. Nicole uses her own story as an entry point to examine the psychology behind stalking behaviours and their impact on victim-survivors. Whether by a stranger, acquaintance or former partner, stalking can have a catastrophic effect on a victim-survivor's mental, social and financial wellbeing. At its worst, it can lead to physical violence, even death.

The stunning and heartbreaking story of the young son of Rachel Nickell - who witnessed the brutal attack on his mother and whose childhood was shaped by the media storm that followed. A coming-of-age story that begins with a tragedy but ends in optimism, forgiveness and peace.

Trapped inside a burning Lancaster bomber, 20,000 feet above Berlin, airman John Martin consigned himself to his fate and turned his thoughts to his fiancee back home. In a miraculous turn of events, however, the 21-year-old was thrown clear of his disintegrating airplane and found himself parachuting into the heart of Nazi Germany. He was soon to be captured and began his period as a prisoner of war.