As it Happened: The Archive Edition - The Against All Odds Episode
Stories of luck presented, and luck invented — from 50 years of AIH archives
Are you the kind of person who believes in making your own luck, or are you more of a Que sera, sera type — content to let fate determine whatever will be? Or perhaps a bit of both, depending on the situation?
Each of the stories in this episode of As it Happened: The Archive Edition details a dramatic turning point in the lives of the individuals involved — and reveals what happened when fate stepped in, or they chose to take fate into their own hands.
Click on 'Listen' above to hear the broadcast version of the episode. Full-length versions of each of the interviews as they originally aired, as well as archival images, appear below.
Some people told us that we must be really tough men to get out of there. But I feel you must be a really warm man.- Roberto Canessa, one of two men who sought help weeks after the plane carrying their rugby team and family members crashed in the frozen Andes mountains
Chapter 1: Peak sacrifice
For weeks, survivors of a plane crash in the Andes are forced to subsist on the remains of their teammates — before making a last-ditch attempt to seek help.
Chapter 2: Raging blizzard, blazing spirit
Johnny Oovaut grew resigned that he and his son would die in a blinding northern snowstorm — but then his heart resolved otherwise.
Chapter 3: Destiny's children
Jennifer Skadeland and her husband both underwent contraceptive surgical procedures after the birth of their third child — but then fate double-doubled down.
Chapter 4: A breed apart
They're supposed to be sterile — so when a mule named Krause not only gives birth, but to a colt, it behooves us to inquire: "He? Huh?"
Chapter 5: Singular strokes of luck
At first, Ruthie McDonald shrugged off her cousin's hole-in-one as a fluke — but soon swung to thinking it was more par-for-the-course.
Listen to the full episode audio at the top of this post.
Written and produced by Kevin Ball.