Roberto Canessa: Medical student who walked for 10 days through the Andes mountain range after a tragic plane crash and appeared in ‘The Snow Society’ World

Miracle or tragedy? The Andes disaster has, until now, been one of the most remembered adventures in history, which has become popular again with the premiere of the Netflix film ‘The Snow Society’. It portrays the experience experienced by a group of 16 young people who managed to survive after the plane carrying them to Chile crashed in the middle of a mountain range. Although their existence came thanks to teamwork, it is undeniable to point out the participation of some of them Roberto Canessa,

Canessa, then a young 19-year-old medical student, was an important member of the survivors of the plane crash, as he was not only in charge of caring for the wounds and injuries of his comrades, but also, Fernando Parradowalked for 10 days Andes mountains, This is how they found help Sergio CatalanA mule driver who informed authorities that his Flight 571 had been damaged Uruguayan Air Force He had left people alive.

What did Roberto Canessa do?

Roberto Jorge Canessaor better known as Roberto Canessa, was one of 16 survivors of the Andes tragedy. He was born on January 17, 1953 in Montevideo, Uruguay. He grew up in the same city and became part of the team of Rugby Old Christians ClubFrom Stella Maris School.

This is how Roberto, that Friday, October 13, 1972, along with 45 other people, boarded a rented plane of the Uruguayan Air Force, which would take them from Carrasco Airport in Montevideo to Santiago de Chile, where they had a scheduled match. .

However, about an hour after leaving its base in the city of Mendoza, the plane crashed into the Valley of Tears, a glacier located in the middle of the Andes mountain range, about 4,000 meters above sea level.

13 people died after being hit by a plane Roberto Canessa And gustavo zerbinowho was studying medicine at the time, treated many of the injured. Likewise, in collaboration with his colleagues, he was in charge of making improvised swings that served as stretchers.

On the tenth day, the group started running out of food and hopes of being rescued diminished. At the same time Canessa talked about the possibility of eating corpses to maintain energy, because in response to the low temperatures in the area, their bodies burned more fat and lost a lot of weight.

“Our general goal was to survive, but we were short of food. We had long since exhausted reserves and had no plant or animal life. (…) We knew the answer, but it was too scary to think“, Roberto Canessa recalled about the practice of anthropology in his book ‘I Had to Survive’.

During the following weeks, Parrado was part of various missions that were carried out, first of all, to search the back of the aircraft in search of more supplies and a radio with which to find out what was happening.

Cañas and his journey through the Andes mountain range

The reason for launching the last campaign was the death of Numa Turkatti. A day after that, on December 12, Roberto Canessa, Fernando Parrado and Antonio Visintin They set out from the Valley of Tears in search of help. For this they were given enough warm clothes, as well as meat for 15 days.

Two days later, on 14 December, they reached the top of the mountain and saw that everything, except a few very distant peaks, was covered with snow. Thus, they realized that the expedition would be more complicated and chose to return to Vizintin with the others so that the meat would last them longer.

Both Roberto and Nando knew that their walk through the Andes mountain range could be fatal, as they had to face the huge mountains, altitude and cold of the region, along with the terrible state of their health.

This journey lasted for 10 days. On Wednesday, December 20, with little to no strength and barely able to walk, they stopped at a river, where Roberto Canessa saw a man on his horse on the other side. Due to the noise of the water, they could only understand that he would come back for them the next day.

On 21 December, the man who found them, later identified as mule driver Sergio Catalán, gave them food while they exchanged the famous letter with which they informed the world of their achievement.

“I came from a plane that fell in the mountains. I am Uruguayan. We have been walking for ten days. A friend of mine has been injured. 14 people are injured in the plane. We have to get out of here quickly and we don’t know how. We don’t have food. We are weak. When will they see us up? Please! We can’t even walk. where we are? S.O.S.“‘Nando’ Parrado wrote.

The following was what they had been wishing for for months. The 14 youth survivors of the Valley of Tears were rescued in two stages and all were transferred to Santiago, Chile. There they underwent thorough medical examination and were reunited with their families.

Kennesaw: From Surviving to Saving Lives

After the accident in the Andes, Roberto Canessa He wanted to move forward in his life. he married his girlfriend Laura Surraco -with whom he experienced an emotional reunion after surviving the Andes-, completed his degree in Medicine and specialized in Pediatric Cardiology.

For his work he has been awarded the National Prize for Medicine in Uruguay three times. Similarly, he works as a university professor and is the director of the Department of Cardiac Ultrasound and Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Diseases. Italian Hospital of Montevideo, There he is also part of the heart transplant team.

His work as a doctor has also allowed him to provide social assistance, as he assists families whose children suffer from heart disease.

On the other hand, he has dedicated himself to telling what he experienced in the Andes through conversations and with the publication of his book ‘I Had to Survive’.