Preamble:
On January 26, 1972, a passenger plane that took off from Belgrade, Yugoslavia and was bound for Stockholm exploded and crashed in the air, and only one of the 28 people on board survived: Vesna Ulovich, a 22-year-old flight attendant at the time.
Vesna, who survived the fall from a height of 10,000 meters, not only broke the world record for the height of survival, but also became a miraculous legend, and her story touched the hearts of millions of people.
Follow the call of your dreams and step into the clear blue sky
In 1951, Vesna was born into an ordinary Yugoslav family. She has been smart and lively since she was a child, with beautiful long hair and bright eyes, and is loved by her parents and teachers. Especially those big clear eyes, which often reveal a firm and persistent look, people can't help but imagine that this little girl will have an extraordinary life in the future.
From a very young age, Vesna had a romantic longing and yearning for the sky, and she would often look up at the blue sky and imagine that she could fly like a bird. This yearning drives her to pursue her dreams.
In 1966, at the age of 15, Vesna entered the local dance school to learn to dance, and her flexible figure and outstanding temperament quickly made a name for herself at the school. Vesna studied all kinds of beautiful dance moves very carefully, and her flexible dance postures that showed sparkling colors continued to win various awards. It was the era when the British Beatles were all over the world, and Vesna was also infatuated with the band's lead singer, Paul McCartney.
During the holidays, she works odd jobs to earn money, dreaming of one day flying to the UK to listen to her idol's singing. On a trip to the UK, Vesna couldn't help but be fascinated by the elegant and virtuous flight attendants in the cabin. It suddenly occurred to her future self that she could also gallop through the sky and become an aerial fairy soaring in the clouds. From that moment on, the profession of flight attendant was deeply imprinted in Vesna's heart and became her new dream in life.
After graduating from high school in 1970, Vesna mustered up the courage to apply for a job as a flight attendant with Yugoslav Airlines. Vesna came to the interview site nervously, facing the serious faces and layers of tests of the crew. She is fluent in English, with noble elegance in her gestures, and finally successfully passed the first hurdle of the interview.
Tall and beautiful, she also easily passed the second round of auditions. However, the following physical examination became a piece of the young Vesna's heart. She was born with low blood pressure and feared it would become a stumbling block to her path to the blue sky. In order to raise her blood pressure and pass the check-up, Vesna drank a lot of espresso before the test. Miraculously, her blood pressure returned to normal. Eventually, in the hope of her family and friends, Vesna got her wish and became a qualified Yugoslav Airlines flight attendant.
A surprise flight to Stockholm
On January 26, 1972, Vesna spent a peaceful day at her home in Belgrade. She has only been working as a flight attendant for 8 months, and although she is busy with her work, she is full of passion. On this day, she was looking through the itinerary when she suddenly received an urgent call from the company, asking her to temporarily join the crew of a flight to Stockholm.
Vesna was a little confused for a moment, but quickly packed her bags and called a taxi to the airport. It turned out that a flight attendant with the same name as her in the company suddenly fell ill and asked for leave, and the new dispatch did not have time to notify the main station that an error occurred. Vesna didn't have time to think about it, so she picked up her baggage and hurried to the boarding gate.
At this time, it was 4 p.m. local time in Northern Europe, and the captain grabbed the young flight attendant who had arrived in a hurry and asked her to rest in the lounge before going to work. Vesna packed her uniform and groomed and reported to the crew assembly point to meet four new colleagues. Soon the plane took off and went on a stratospheric cruise.
After busily handling the passengers' meals, Vesna returned to the rear of the plane to prepare for a nap. She looked at the vast sky outside the window with some uneasiness, and faintly felt a strange premonition. However, at an altitude of 10,000 meters, the plane became a time bomb at some point......
Explosions and falls, how a young life passes through the ghost gate
The rumbling sound suddenly pierced the sky, and the flight at an altitude of 10,000 meters was torn in half in an instant. It was a clear and devastating explosion that shattered 23 lives. And Vesna, who was in the tail workshop a few meters away from the center of the explosion, also ushered in a thrilling scene of see-saw with death at this moment. The entire cabin shook with tremendous energy, and before Vesna could react, the figure in the crimson uniform disappeared from the mirror. "Is this the end of my life?" a grotesque and desperate thought crossed her mind.
Due to the differential pressure, the gas in the cabin instantly gushed out a huge cavity. Vesna, who was originally leaning on the edge of the table, was thrown into a corner and stuck firmly on the wall seat by the dining cart. Fortunately, this allowed her to escape for the time being and not being sucked out of the cabin. At the same time, the broken plane began to fall towards zero at a speed of 200 miles per hour. Vesna felt the impact and jolt between her body and her seat, and the chaos and the terrible feeling of falling made her almost faint. She struggled to look up at the half-open hatch, smoke billowing from outside, and despair.
World War II veterans discover miraculous survivors
In the wooden house on the mountain, the veteran Bruno was taking a nap when suddenly a huge explosion resounded through the valley. He realized that it must have been a plane crash. With little hope, the elderly Bruno rushes to the place of the incident. The wreckage of the plane and the bodies of the passengers who died reminded Bruno of the horrors of his youth on the battlefield. He was about to give up on the search for survivors when he caught a glimpse of a bloodstained figure in the tail of the plane. Bruno was surprised to find that it was a young woman on the plane, miraculously faint and breathing.
Bruno yells at Vesna's name to keep her awake, and takes off his coat to protect her from the cold. Just as he was about to pick up Vesna for help, the girl miraculously opened her heavy eyelids, and in a blood-red color, her first words were "Give me a cigarette...... Bruno hurriedly stopped the injured from smoking, and without caring for much, he picked up the girl who had "escaped death" into the car and ran desperately down the mountain. At this moment, he was glad that he had learned emergency first aid knowledge on the battlefield.
In the tug-of-war with the Grim Reaper, low blood pressure became an unexpected surprise in life
Vesna, who was rushed to the hospital, soon fell into a coma again. Bruno learned from the doctor that the girl's injuries were unimaginably severe. She suffered multiple fractures throughout her body, collapsed her spine, and suffered severe intracranial hemorrhage. The paramedics used various surgical methods to try to save the dying flight attendant, but the chances of making it through were pitiful.
Normal physiology is difficult to keep her alive. However, a miracle happened again. After a long rescue, Vesna finally got out of the ghost gate. The expert who took over her medical records had to admit the mystery of this bizarre miracle of survival.
Why can an ordinary woman survive the extreme situation of a high-altitude explosion and a 10,000-meter fall? They think that at the moment of disintegration at high altitude, it was a coincidence that Vesna was trapped in the tail of the plane; and the wreckage of the plane crashing on the soft snowy mountain, which bought her precious time to survive, which is undoubtedly the favor of God. However, more importantly, it is the constitution of Vesna's congenital hypotension. "Low blood pressure", which has always been regarded as a problem, saved the life of the young flight attendant at this moment.
Become a legend who survived the fall from a height, fading away from glory but unable to eliminate the demons
Seven years after this miraculous miracle of survival, Vesna beat the double-digit odds of survival and was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the person in history who has successfully survived a fall from a height". In 1985, her idol McCartney personally presented this certificate of honor. However, honors and titles could not dispel the gloom in the flight attendants' hearts. Frequent nightmares invade the surviving flight attendants, which become her new demons.
Self-blame and guilt became a source of nightmares for her, and the faces of the dead passengers often came to her mind. This torture was carried out day after day, and in 2007, Vesna finally choked up in a media interview about the horrific memories of the crash. On a cold morning in December 2016, on the eve of her 66th birthday, the legendary flight attendant was left alone to end her life struggling with nightmares.
We may never know what happened to the Yugoslav airliner in 1972 that was blown up at high altitude. But Vesna, the miraculous survivor of the high-altitude fall, has become an eternal legend in those heart-rending 33 seconds. When you and I look up at the sky again, we may think that there are really miracles in this world. Those precious lives are so far away and yet so close in our thoughts.