Real-life Survivor

last updated 8 January 2015

Madiran, France

A Frenchman who was lost in a series of caves for more than a month was found alive last week. Jean-Luc Josuat-Vergès, 48, said he was drunk when he drove his car into the caves in the Pyrenees and smashed it up. He tried to hike his way out, but became hopelessly disoriented. For 35 days, he ate only clay and rotting wood, and drank the water trickling down the walls. “I never panicked, never got depressed or cried,” said Josuat-Vergès. “I even sang songs.” Police said he was saved by a teachers’ strike: Josuat-Vergès was found by a couple of students who had the day off.