TEDx 2014 Nando Parrado

Summary

The speaker recounts his miraculous survival of the 1972 Andes plane crash, where he and 28 others endured 72 days at 14,000 feet with sub-zero temperatures. He emphasizes the importance of teamwork, leadership, and innovation, which they excelled in to stay alive. The ordeal taught him to value life's present moments and led to a successful career and family, proving that extraordinary moments are often born from love and resilience.

Takeaways

• 🌟 The speaker survived an incredible ordeal, having been involved in a plane crash in the Andes Mountains 41 years ago and living to tell the tale.
• 🏔️ The crash occurred in a remote and harsh environment where survival was nearly impossible, with temperatures dropping to minus 35 degrees and no immediate rescue.
• 👥 The rugby team and others on the plane exhibited exceptional teamwork, leadership, and resilience, which were key to their survival.
• 📈 The speaker attributes the survival and later success in life to the skills developed during the ordeal, such as risk management, innovation, and creativity.
• 🏆 The ultimate prize of survival was achieved through excellence in various aspects of life that were later recognized in business and leadership.
• 💔 The speaker experienced profound personal loss, including the death of his mother, sister, and friends, which adds to the emotional depth of the story.
• 🚁 The initial belief of imminent rescue was replaced with the harsh reality of being stranded, leading to a shift in mindset and survival strategies.
• 🔄 The speaker had to confront the moral dilemma of cannibalism as a means of survival, an extreme measure taken in the face of death.
• 🗺️ Despite being misled about their location, the group's determination to survive led them to undertake a perilous journey across the Andes to seek help.
• 🏆 The speaker's life post-ordeal is a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of living in the present, cherishing loved ones, and pursuing success.
• 👶 The speaker's narrative concludes with the joy of family and the birth of his grandchildren, emphasizing that life's most precious moments are often connected to love.

Q & A

What significant event occurred 41 years ago that the speaker is referring to?

The speaker is referring to the plane crash in the Andes Mountains that occurred in 1972, where he and his rugby team survived against all odds.

How did the speaker's experience in the Andes influence his life and business achievements?

The speaker attributes his success in business to the skills he developed during his ordeal in the Andes, such as teamwork, leadership, facing change, crisis management, and innovation.

What was the initial belief of the survivors about being rescued after the crash?

The initial belief of the survivors was that they would be rescued the next day because helicopters do not fly at night in the mountains.

How did the speaker's mindset change after hearing the news that the search for the plane had been abandoned?

The speaker's mindset changed from hopeful to determined, realizing that they had to take matters into their own hands to survive and escape.

What drastic decision did the survivors have to make in order to survive?

The survivors had to resort to eating the dead bodies of their friends in order to sustain themselves until they could find a way to escape.

What was the physical condition of the survivors after being stranded for two and a half months in the Andes?

The survivors were extremely weak, dehydrated, and suffering from the harsh conditions of the Andes, including frostbite and malnutrition.

How did the speaker and another survivor attempt to reach help after being stranded?

The speaker and another survivor, Roberto, attempted to cross the Andes Mountains by climbing to the top and then walking and climbing for ten and a half days to reach civilization.

What was the emotional impact on the speaker when he returned home after the ordeal?

The emotional impact was profound; the speaker had to face the loss of his mother, sister, and friends, and had to rebuild his life from the ground up.

How did the speaker's perspective on life change after his survival experience?

The speaker's perspective on life changed drastically, valuing every moment and striving to live a meaningful life, cherishing his family and achieving success in his personal and professional life.

What does the speaker consider his biggest triumph in life?

The speaker considers his biggest triumph to be his family, including his wife, daughters, and grandchildren, rather than his material or professional achievements.

What advice does the speaker give to the audience about living life?

The speaker advises the audience to live in the present, to be good, competitive, and to cherish every extraordinary moment, especially those linked with love.

Outlines

00:00

🌄 Survival Against All Odds

The speaker begins by expressing gratitude and reflecting on a life that should have ended 41 years ago in a plane crash in the Andes Mountains. Despite the harsh conditions and loss of loved ones, he survived and later thrived, founding multiple companies. The ordeal taught him invaluable lessons in teamwork, leadership, crisis management, and innovation, which he credits for his survival and subsequent success. He shares a video of the Andes to illustrate the severity of the situation and promises to inspire the audience to find strength in the face of adversity.

05:01

🛬 The Tragic Plane Crash and the Fight for Survival

The speaker recounts the tragic plane crash that occurred while traveling with his rugby team and family to Chile. The crash took place in the remote Andes, where 29 out of 45 passengers survived the initial impact. The captain took charge, but despite his efforts, rescue never came. The survivors faced extreme conditions, with temperatures dropping to minus 35 degrees and no food or resources. The speaker's mother and sister died, and the realization that they were presumed dead and the search abandoned led to a profound sense of fear and despair among the survivors.

10:01

🏔️ The Harrowing Reality of Andean Survival

As the days passed without rescue, the survivors were forced to confront the brutal reality of their situation. The speaker describes the psychological shift from mourning to survival mode, where the harsh conditions of the Andes demanded a fight for life. The decision to resort to cannibalism in order to survive was a desperate and horrifying measure. An avalanche further compounded their suffering, killing eight more survivors. The speaker's determination to live and return to his family drove him to propose a risky escape plan, which involved climbing the treacherous Andes Mountains.

15:02

🚶‍♂️ The Desperate Climb for Rescue

The speaker narrates the courageous decision to climb the Andes in search of help. Despite the immense physical and psychological challenges, he and a companion embarked on a perilous journey across the mountains. After ten and a half grueling days, they encountered a local peasant, which led to their eventual rescue. The speaker reflects on the profound impact of the ordeal on his life, vowing to live a meaningful life and cherish the second chance he was given.

20:02

👨‍👧‍👧 Rebuilding Life and Cherishing Family

The speaker shares his journey of rebuilding life after the tragedy, emphasizing the importance of living in the present and cherishing family. He talks about his successful career, his marriage, and the birth of his daughters. The story comes full circle when he takes his family to the Andes to pay respects to those who perished. He concludes by expressing his belief that life's true measure is not the breaths we take but the extraordinary moments that take our breath away, highlighting the importance of love and living in the present.

Keywords

💡Survival

Survival refers to the state of continuing to live or exist, especially in spite of difficult or dangerous circumstances. In the video's theme, survival is central as it recounts the story of the Andes plane crash and the struggle of the survivors to stay alive under extreme conditions. The script mentions 'survival' in various contexts, such as 'survived on the worst place a human being can survive' and 'we survived because we achieved excellence in all those things,' highlighting the resilience and resourcefulness of the individuals in the face of life-threatening challenges.

💡Leadership

Leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization. It is a key concept in the video as it discusses how leadership roles emerged from ordinary individuals during the crisis. The script exemplifies this with the story of Marcelo, the rugby team captain, who took charge immediately after the crash, making critical decisions for the group's survival, such as building a wall to protect against the wind, and the transition of leadership to others as the situation evolved.

💡Teamwork

Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way. The video emphasizes the importance of teamwork in the survivors' ability to endure and overcome the harsh conditions of the Andes. The script describes how the rugby team, having played together since school, worked collectively to face the challenges, such as 'we were a fantastic team we had been playing rugby together since their school days.'

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay. In the context of the video, innovation is related to the creative solutions the survivors developed to aid their survival, such as making snow shoes and sunglasses from the wreckage. The script states, 'our innovation or creativity was related to snow shoes sunglasses things that we had to make to make our brains work,' showing the resourcefulness required to adapt to the extreme environment.

💡Crisis

A crisis is a turning point for better or for worse, a moment of danger or opportunity. The video's narrative is built around the crisis of the plane crash and the subsequent struggle for survival. The script mentions 'facing crisis' as one of the excellences achieved by the survivors, indicating the importance of effective crisis management in their survival, such as when they had to confront the reality of being abandoned by rescue teams: 'the search for the Uruguayan plane... has been abandoned after searching for 10 days.'

💡Andes Mountains

The Andes Mountains are the longest continental mountain range in the world, located in South America. In the video, the Andes Mountains are the setting for the plane crash and the backdrop for the entire survival story. The script describes the harsh conditions at '14,000 feet with temperatures ranging to minus 35 degrees below zero,' emphasizing the extreme environment that the survivors had to endure.

💡Rugby Team

The rugby team refers to the group of individuals involved in the sport of rugby, specifically the Old Christians Rugby team from Uruguay in this video. The team's unity and camaraderie play a significant role in the story, as they rely on each other for support and survival. The script mentions 'my rugby team' and 'one of Uruguay stop rugby players,' indicating the team's identity and the shared experience that bonded them together.

💡Rescue

Rescue is the act of saving a person or an animal from a dangerous situation. In the video, the concept of rescue is a driving hope and a turning point for the survivors. The script describes the moment of rescue when 'we saw a peasant on the other side of a river' and the subsequent arrival of helicopters, marking the end of their ordeal and the beginning of their return to normal life.

💡Miracle

A miracle is an extraordinary event that surpasses human understanding or the laws of nature. In the video, the speaker refers to his survival and presence as a 'miracle,' emphasizing the unlikely and fortunate nature of his continued existence. The script states, 'it's a miracle that I'm here,' reflecting on the improbability of surviving the crash and the subsequent ordeal.

💡Family

Family refers to a group of individuals who are related by blood or legal ties. The video highlights the importance of family in the speaker's life, from the loss of his mother and sister in the crash to the later joy of having his own family. The script mentions 'my family which I have dreamt of every single minute on that frozen fuselage,' showing the deep emotional connection and the motivation to survive and build a life.

💡Present

The present refers to the current moment or period of time. The video encourages living in the present, as it is the only time that is truly within one's control. The script includes advice from the speaker's father, 'don't loose your connections...leave your present,' underscoring the importance of focusing on the here and now rather than being consumed by past or future concerns.

Highlights

Survival against all odds in the Andes Mountains for 72 days, demonstrating human resilience.

The speaker's unexpected survival, having been presumed dead for over 40 years.

The importance of leadership and teamwork in crisis situations, as experienced during the ordeal.

Innovations created for survival, such as snow shoes and water-making machines, from available materials.

The psychological impact of being stranded, including the shift in mindset required for survival.

The tragic loss of family members and the emotional journey of coping with such a loss.

The decision to consume the bodies of deceased friends as a last resort for survival.

The physical and mental challenges of climbing the Andes Mountains in search of rescue.

The realization of being 90 miles away from safety, contrary to initial beliefs.

The struggle with dehydration and the creative solutions to obtain water in a harsh environment.

The emotional reunion with family post-rescue and the subsequent life reflections.

The transformation from an average person to a leader through adversity.

The establishment of successful companies and a family after the ordeal, as a testament to resilience.

The return to the Andes with family to pay respects to those lost, signifying closure and remembrance.

The value of living in the present and the importance of cherishing life's moments.

The speaker's belief in the miracle of life and the strength derived from extraordinary moments.

The profound message that life is measured by the extraordinary moments that take your breath away.

Transcripts

good morning thank you for being here

and the only one who shouldn't be here

to me not because I should be on another

place because I should be dead and

buried 41 years ago you look at me now

but this ordeal this obviously happened

41 years ago when internet didn't exist

text messages iPhones or anything didn't

exist I survived on the worst place a

human being can survive and whatever I

have achieved in my life I have

inherited one company and I created

three more companies I wouldn't have

achieved that with what I have learned

in the cold summits of the Andes

Mountains I was traveling to Chile from

Ontario with my rugby team my mother my

sister there were fans of my team and we

crashed in the middle of the Andes and

we survived on the worst place a human

being can survive you can survive on the

desert on a jungle on the ocean with no

chances climbers get up to a summit and

they get out of there as soon as they

can we survived there for two and a half

months at 14,000 feet with temperatures

ranging to minus 35 degrees below zero

without anything nothing whatsoever

quite did we survive why after speaking

to some of the best universities in the

world business schools in the world I

discovered that we survived because we

achieved excellence in all those things

that you later learned in life you know

how many times have you heard about

teamwork leadership facing change facing

crisis risk management research

development technology innovation

creativity we were excellent in each one

of those and we got the biggest prize of

all which is life I survived with my

friends on this worst environment and I

lost my mother my sister and my four

best friends on the plane crash all the

leaders died but then leaders have to

appear have to evolve from people that

were absolutely average like I was into

leadership I will show you a little

video of about one minute and a half or

you will see the exact mountains where

we crest and then we will go through

some PowerPoint we

pictures taken by National Geographic in

2006 that speak more than 1000 words and

you will really grasp what happened to

us and if we are ever presented with a

illness economical problem financial

problem relationship problem you will

remember remember me because you will

find the strength to weather that dark

night and create your own version of a

miracle because I shouldn't be here

it's a miracle that I'm here can we roll

the first video please one of the

greatest human survival stories of all

time began on Friday October 13th 1972

when a charter plane carrying a rugby

team from the South American country of

Uruguay vanished over the remote

snow-covered Andes Mountains for 72 days

the world thought they were dead Nando

Prado was only 21 when he caught the

plane which was taking his team to play

a rematch in Chile pirata was one of

Uruguay stop rugby players and his

mother and sister went with him for the

journey

the pilot had radioed that he was over

Chile it was a fatal navigational error

believing he had already crossed the

range he descended into the clouds and

emerged in the middle of the mountains

the head crashed at over 11,000 feet at

night temperatures dropped to 30 degrees

below zero they couldn't survive on just

a few bars of chocolate

chillin with a lot of happiness inside

the airplane and it's incredible how

fast life can change from a zone of

complete comfort from complete safety

happiness to something that you thought

would never ever happen to you things

that you read about on the news papers

on books but it never would happen to

you I was sitting on the middle of the

airplane on the aisle seat and my friend

Panchito hits me with this elbow and

said Nando look and I looked and about

100 meters away from the airplane mixed

with the clouds a huge mountain went by

and I said we cannot fly that close to

the mountains I look to where my mother

was and it's improbable how many things

you can't record in your mind in the

last tenth of a second of your life this

horrible metallic sound and then the

impact and complete blackness I died and

as you can see here in the this drawing

the plane hits the mountain with a belly

loses their wings

the engines breaks in half and it flies

in the air because of the speed of the

airplane and it lands on the exactly

same angle that the next mountain had

had it landed with a different angle you

would have cartwheel somersaulted and

destroyed itself but incredibly enough

the miracle is that of the 45 people on

board 29 survived the impact and the

plane slides down 2,000 meters from the

side like a skier out of control gaining

speed and speed and at 220 miles an hour

stops in 1 metre against the glacier and

that's the worst impact not the first

one the third this it stops in the

middle of the glacier surrounded by

mountains completely surrounded by

mountains so that we didn't have any

horizon and you see the front part of

the cockpit destroyed on the third

impact this kills the pilots and

Happiness turns to silence and complete

horror inside the airplane 29 guys

survived the impact and we were a team

we're a fantastic team we had been

playing rugby together since their

school days and we were a team and the

captain

took in charge 10-15 minutes after the

plane crash took charge helping the

wounded guys taking the dead bodies from

inside the airplane but he took the

biggest decision I've ever seen taken in

my life every Co I have seen in speaks

about biggest decisions but Marcelo he

was 21 years old he said guys we will be

rescued tomorrow because it's 5:30

helicopters do not fly at night in the

mountains so we will freeze tonight so

come on guys help me and with the help

of some of 6 7 guys he built a wall here

with suitcases pieces of the airplane to

keep the wind from come inning but the

helicopters didn't come the next day or

the second day or the third day or the

fourth day and then your mind and I try

to put images in your mind starts to

work on a different level I look at you

I look at your eyes and I know that less

than 1/4 of you would have survived

which ones I don't know unless you are

there fear is one thing the real thing

is another thing would you have would

you have discovered flattering facets of

your personality that you didn't know if

they exist inside you and you would have

survived or would you have collapsed in

fear and died the most horrible death

you can imagine you don't know unless

you are there helicopters didn't come on

the fifth day on the sixth day my mother

and my sister died on the plane crash

but your mind changes survival modes

heat in your brain goes inside your

brain and you cannot feel sorrow you

cannot cry the conditions are so harsh

that you have to fight for survival day

eight day nine awake over there and we

hey guys could it be that they don't

know where we are so you start to get

very afraid very afraid very afraid and

we asked the captain Marcelo where are

the helicopters where are the

helicopters and he said don't worry guys

the helicopters cannot fly we are very

high up in the mountains so they are

sending help through the glaciers with

crampons equipment expeditionaries and

it will take them maybe two or three

more days to come here but just in case

try to be there look for everything

that's eatable on this airplane and

there was nothing there was nothing just

two chocolate pellets and we were 29

guys alive it's like being in Mars or

the moon there's nothing over there

rocks ice and snow day 10 arrives no

help no helicopters nothing we had a

small transistor radio we could listen

to a shortwave station from Santiago and

that day in the morning we heard the

news program and the journalists gave

international news local news and then

he said and we also want to communicate

or listeners that the search for the

Uruguayan plane with the old Christine's

rugby team has been abandoned after

searching for 10 days there is no hope

to find the wreckage of the plane

because it snows or the bodies there's

no covers all the degrees so the search

has been stopped and he said the Andes

never give back what they take how would

you have felt there I felt so afraid

some of the guys cried some fell to the

ground embrace each other we were

condemned to die and I thought and that

meaning I remember clearly thinking I

don't want to die I don't want these

mountains to steal away from me my life

I will find love one day I want to get

married I want to have a life but I'm

going to die and all the leaders had

died and I said I have to do something

for my life I have to do something and

I'll fight I want to go back to my

father and tell him how much I love him

and that he hasn't lost his whole family

so that gave me a lot of boost but the

days kept going 11 12 13 what happens

what happens your mind explodes inside

that fuselage to something completely

different we had to survive and thought

creep into your mind and I told the guys

look guys I want to get out of here and

we're going to die there's only one way

that we have to survive we have to wait

for the summer to arrive it's two months

away we didn't have any clothes no shoes

no jackets nothing shirts like you have

now

and we were at 14,000 feet we have to

eat and the only thing that we have to

eat are the dead bodies of our friends

and it's in those moments that you have

to peel away from your body from your

soul that thin veneer of civilized being

that you have and the survival links in

in each one of you when things go wrong

it starts it's like a nap in your brain

it starts and it creates thought that

you never thought you would have to

think about and things are revealed to

you and you will have to do things that

will really take you to the core essence

of you as a human being

just imagine surviving there in that way

horrible hell but three weeks after the

plane crashed at night in a silence that

like you have never heard before in your

life

darkness that you have never seen before

in your life a strange sound it's an

avalanche and it hits the airplane hits

your plane with a strength that you

cannot imagine like a sea courier in

your chest and the evidence goes inside

the airplane buries the airplane by

three yards and it kills eight of us

eight are killed by the Avalanche and

this is only three weeks after the plane

crash

we still have one and half more monster

at least two months more so what do we

do what do we do

we made a tunnel just to get out of

there

and I remember I broke the surface like

a rabbit and I could walk on that snow

like on this stage I'll own a hole in

the ground and inside a fusillade with

my friends eight of them dead and you

start to get weak and weak and weak and

weak and there's no water you suffer

thirst there as in the Sahara Desert

it's the same you dehydrate five times

faster than Scylla at sea level order so

we ate snow and ice for two and a half

months but then you get blisters inside

your mouth in your tongue in your lips

and it hurts a lot

so no food almost no water but life goes

on life goes on and in this picture

taken by National Geographic you see

exactly a place we were and the mountain

that was exactly

West quite exactly to a West because we

found a map on the plane I map with a

flight plan and we said look guys this

is a flight plan okay we made 1,000

calculations 1,000 each one of them gave

us the same average that we were about

five to eight miles away from a small

town in Chile from Carrico we had in

that equation speed of the airplane

Direction headwind you know all those

things but one of the items on the

equation was wrong direction of the

flight instead of flying West the plane

had flown south so instead of being five

to eight miles away from carico we were

90 miles away from Carrico in our minds

we were there and I said guys when the

summer arrives I climb to the top and in

the evening I would be on the other side

of a mountain in Carrico so this it

takes weeks and weeks and weeks after

two months over there I told one of my

friends with whom I I got very well

there

I'm afraid to go Robert oh please come

with me come with me

and he said we're going to die anyway so

let's die trying

and on December 12th after two months we

started to walk and climb we didn't know

how high was that there are no mountains

as high as that one in the whole of

Europe that's 18,000 feet over there in

the middle of the Andes Mountains we

started to walk and climb and we start

to climb and climb and climb and climb

and climb this is the National

Geographic climber this is a top of the

mountain that you were seen until I

reached there the top and Roberto says

do you see green do you see trees do you

see houses and the only thing I could

look at was this this is the exact top

of a mountain this was my view to the

west the exact view and on that moment

with I don't know strength of mind or

survival instinct I decided that I was

not going to die there at the top of the

mountain and I said Roberto I'm going to

walk I'm going to climb but every step I

will give I will be closer to my

I will be closer to life I want to live

and we had created a lot of things

innovation at this stage is about apps

and I was listening with such interest

about those things you know over there

they didn't exist

our innovation or creativity was related

to snow shoes sunglasses things that we

had to make to make our brains work in

the same way that your brains work now

but creating physical things because we

didn't know that the technology would be

at this date now but we created snow

shoes sunglasses water making machines

ropes everything from nothing we created

things that allows us to reach that top

and then we kept going and we kept going

and going through the valleys you see

one of the climbers there it's huge ten

and a half days ten and a half days

walking crashing you can run the Ironman

and you can stop you're tired if you

stop there you're dead finally ten and a

half days after we started we saw a

peasant on the other side of a river the

peasant was the link to rescue to the

helicopters the helicopters came they

rescue us I flew with them to rescue the

other guys because I didn't know where

they were they took us to hospital in

San Fernando the silent parts of Chile

from there to Santiago from Santiago on

a chartered plane back home in

Montevideo what I got there my real

ordeal started my friends went back home

their families embraced them your deal

was finished I went back home my mother

was not there my sister was not there I

embraced my father when an embrace

I still feel 41 years later and I opened

the window of my house and I said no

what are you going to do with your life

what are you going to do and I said I'm

going to have a life I was blessed I

realized that I was blessed to have been

given the chance to be born again and I

said I won't destroy my life I will have

a life and I started to work hard I

started to do my sports hard and one day

in Europe I made a beautiful person and

a beautiful girl and I married her one

week later my decisions were fast

we have been married for 36 years she

gave me two beautiful girls my daughters

and I worked harder became chapter

chairman of YPO young presidents

organization wpo entrepreneur of the

year I created my companies I worked

hard but my father always told me don't

loose your connections Nando don't loose

your connections leave your present

leave your present because it's the only

real time the past is already gone the

future has not arrived yet it will

arrive and you will cope with it like

every human being since the history of

mankind so don't forget to leave your

present the present is the most

important time of your life and I work

hard but I also I never jeopardize my

family in order to obtain that and five

days five years ago my two daughters

asked me daddy we want to go to that

glacier because we were born there

haven't you fought in the way you fought

haven't you suffered in the world you've

suffered we wouldn't be alive and we

want to put flowers in the grave of your

mother and your sister and your friends

so I made an expedition and I took them

there I took them to the mountain I took

them there and that photograph a friend

of mine took it it's me my two daughters

and my wife looking at the first

mountain that we climbed that's the icon

of my life that represents my life that

represents my life and you know life

goes on life goes on and my biggest

triumph is not my bank accounts what I

have achieved my houses my companies

it's not that is that I have achieved

our family which I have dreamt of every

single minute on that frozen fuselage

but then three years ago my

granddaughter Alexia was born I'm not a

romantic I'm more competitive than

anybody here I can assure you I love

material things more than anybody here I

love good clothes good cars be

successful flying first-class success on

my company's more than anybody I enjoy

every day when I wake up I try to build

it

the best one and I am blessed with

breathing that is something you should

learn so Alexia was born and four weeks

ago

máximo was born my grandson and my

biggest triumph will be one day that

Maxim or Alexia say we are alive because

my grandfather crossed the end this tree

was life and remembering that life is

not measured by the amount of breaths

that you take but by those extraordinary

moments that take your breath away I

read that and I loved it

and those extraordinary more

extraordinary moments are usually linked

with love remember that live your

present

be good be competitive and thank you

very much because nobody knows how it's

going to happen tomorrow that's very

important thanks for being here

thank

lucky