Sign Up For Our Newsletters
Sign Up for Our Newsletters
More Categories
    Select Filters
    Brands
    Topics
    Pets & Animals
    Nicest Places
    People
    Life
    Holidays & Observances
    Arts & Entertainment
    Wellness
    True Stories
    Content Type
    Travel
    Reader's Digest Magazine
    Knowledge

    Survival Stories

    In times of struggle and strife, humanity always finds a way. When the the clock runs low and the chips are down, these unbelieavable stories of survival will remind you of the strength of the human spirit.

    split screen illustration of two women talking on the phone

    This Teacher Saved a Grandmother’s Life Thanks to Virtual School at Home

    “If it wasn’t for them,” said Phillips, 
“I wouldn’t be here.”

    When a Medevac Plane Couldn’t Land Because the Runway Lights Were Out an Entire Village Used Their Headlights to Help it Touch Down Safely

    “Any time a plane flies over that late, you know something is wrong.”

    What It Was Like to Escape a Wildfire In the Middle of the Night

    Two retirees recount their narrow escape from their home during a wildfire in Oregon.

    A Group of Teens on Their Surf Boards Saved Two Swimmers from Drowning

    Two swimmers struggle for their lives until 
a group of teens arrive on their boards.
    Tout icon

    This Woman Almost Lost Her Leg Due to an Ant Bite

    After an ant bite, a woman with type 1 diabetes was told she needed an...
    Tout icon

    This Man Was Superfit When He Got COVID-19—And Then He Lost His Leg

    After a severe COVID-19 diagnosis, a personal trainer is left in a wheelchair after having...

    This Woman Was Trapped in Her Car on an Embankment for Days Before Concerned Neighbors Found Her

    Trapped in her car down an embankment, Corine began to lose hope of being found.

    13 Powerful Things Surviving a Terrorist Attack Taught Me About Life

    Here's how I learned to see the good in a world that can seem, at...

    I Survived 9/11—These Are the 15 Questions Young People Ask Me the Most

    Twelve-years-old at the time of the attack, the author survived, and so did her family....

    After a Horrible Car Crash, Her Odds of Survival Were Just 100 to One

    A car crash left Molei Wright functionally decapitated. Even if her body survived, her mind...

    This Man Broke 15 Bones When He Fell into a Glacier—Here’s How He Survived

    He knew that if he couldn't climb out, that crack in the ice would become...

    How This Quadriplegic Man Learned How to Move His Limbs…with His Mind

    Ian Burkhart was the first quadriplegic to regain control of his body using his thoughts.

    How I Escaped from Cuba in 1969 in the Wheel Well of a Jet

    This RD classic from 50 years ago tells the thrilling story of a teen who...

    Here’s How I Survived a Shark Attack

    Mike Coots was surfing with his buddies near his home in Kauai when he was...

    When 20 Miners Became Stranded in an Elevator Shaft, One Man Transported Them All to Safety

    Below the trapped miners was an empty elevator shaft, 2,000 feet deep. Only the strength...

    How a Boy Scout Nearly Drowned to Fight Racism in His Troop

    One Moth storyteller explains the courage it took to accomplish what no one thought he...

    This 92-Year-Old Man Was Still an Accomplished Hiker—But Then He Went Missing

    It wasn’t the first time Bill McDonnell had blazed his own trail in the wilderness....

    In a Freak Accident, This Woman Was Shot in the Neck with an Arrow and It Ended Up Saving Her Life

    After a backyard accident 
almost kills her, a Texas woman is taken 
on a miraculous...

    This Man Beheaded a Snake—And It Still Bit Him

    When Jeremy Sutcliffe decapitated the poisonous rattler threatening his wife, he assumed that would be...

    When This Farmer’s Leg Got Caught in an Auger, He Grabbed a Pocketknife and Did the Unthinkable to Survive

    With his leg caught in the sharp, whirling teeth of a gigantic corn conveyor and...
    Tout icon

    A 17-Year-Old Stepped In to Save a Choking Boy When No One Else Could

    Tyra Winters was participating in her homecoming parade when she saw a child choking in...

    12 Titanic Survivors: What Happened to Them Next

    That fateful night was the beginning of the rest of their lives—for better or for...

    25 Years After the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Stories of Rescue Will Still Bring You to Tears

    It has been 25 years since a truck bomb ripped through a federal 
office building...