You may have recently read the incredible story of the survival of four children, one only 11 months old, who survived after their plane went down in the Colombian jungle, killing their mother and the other adults on board. If you haven’t heard the story, Fox News’s Brie Stimson reports the details, writing:
Four children who survived a deadly plane crash that killed their mother May 1 stayed alive for more than a month before their rescue in the Colombian jungle by eating cassava flour and jungle fruits, officials and family said.
The children, ages 13, 11, 4 and 11 months, were rescued Friday by Colombian soldiers who had been searching for the kids since the plane was found May 16 along with the bodies of the pilot, co-pilot and their 33-year-old mother.
The children are members of the indigenous Huitoto people, which likely helped them navigate the jungle and decide what berries to eat.
“When the plane crashed, they took out (of the wreckage) a fariña, and with that, they survived,” their uncle, Fidencio Valencia told reporters, referring to cassava flour eaten in the Amazon region. “After the fariña ran out, they began to eat seeds,” Valencia said.
Astrid Cáceres, head of the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, also said they were lucky it was late spring when the jungle was “in harvest.”
The children were taken to a hospital in the country’s capital of Bogota where they are expected to remain for at least two weeks.
“In general, the condition of the children is acceptable,” Defense Minister Iván Velásquez told reporters, adding that they were being rehydrated but could not eat solid food yet.
“The jungle saved them,” Petro, who met with the children in the hospital Saturday, said. “They are children of the jungle, and now they are also children of Colombia.”
They had been traveling with their mother Magdalena Mucutuy from the village of Araracuara near the Amazon River to San Jose del Guaviare when their plane crashed, killing all of the adults on board.
The survival of the four children is undoubtedly incredible, but as I wrote to you in November 2021, statistically more likely than you might think. I wrote:
I remember as a kid, my family and I were sailing home after a week on the boat and suddenly were engulfed by fog. My parents, fearful for the safety of their family, anchored thinking we were just outside of the harbor and could just wait until it lifted. The next morning, with the fog clear, we realized we weren’t even close to the harbor. It happens that fast. And staying in place and waiting for the fog to lift kept us off the rocks.
Similarly, when you fall overboard, the initial jolt makes you want to thrash about, and it’s easy to panic. But the best chance for survival is to simply be calm and float. Sure, it’s easier said than done. But guess what? Guess who has the highest percentage rate for surviving when lost in the woods? Survivalists, mountaineers, ultra-marathoners? No. It’s children under the age of six. Why? Scientists believe it’s because they don’t yet have a mental map of where they are, or what one’s “supposed” to do. They seek shelter, burrowing in the trunk of a tree to stay warm, for example. Unfortunately, it’s children ages seven to twelve with the worst percentage of survival. Why? Because they have some adult characteristics such as mental mapping.
Read more of that story in Survival: Lost in the Woods Bending the Map.
Action Line: Like getting lost in the woods, or thrown overboard at sea, in investing, sometimes the best way to survive is to maintain calm and stay put. Too many people hoping to “survive” an investment catastrophe begin thrashing about or running around through the trees when what they ought to do, in the words of Jack Bogle, is “Don’t just do something, stand there.” When you want help learning to be an investment “survivor,” let’s talk.
Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
