Guinness World Records (GWR) recently took to their official Twitter handle to share an incredible story of a woman whose survival created a world record. It is the highest fall survived without a parachute in the history of mankind. It was made when a woman named Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant, was aboard a DC-9 plane in 1972. The aircraft was flying between Stockholm in Sweden and Belgrade in Serbia when a briefcase bomb placed in the baggage compartment exploded and killed everyone except Vesna.
“This is the incredible story of the woman who fell 33,333 feet and survived...,” wrote Guinness World Records while sharing the video. According to a blog by Guinness World Records, Vesna’s survival was ‘attributed to her being pinned down by a food cart’ in the aircraft’s main body, which separated from the rest of the plane and ‘crash-landed in thick snow at a favourable angle’. A World War 2 medic, Bruno Honke, found her screaming at the crash site and administered her first aid before rescuers arrived. Vesna spent the first few days in a coma and sustained severe injuries, including a fractured skull, legs and ribs. However, she was back on her feet in a few months.
As part of the organisation's Hall of Fame ceremony in 1985, Paul McCartney presented Vesna with a certificate and medal for achieving the incredible feat.
Watch the video below:
{{/usCountry}}Watch the video below:
{{/usCountry}}Since being shared a day ago, this tweet has raked up more than 2,000 views and over a hundred likes. It has also received several comments.
“Omg,” posted an individual. “She is from Serbia,” shared another. “What a record!” commented a third.
As quoted by Guinness World Records, Vesna, who told the New York Times, “I am like a cat, I have had nine lives”, breathed her last at 66 in December 2016.