On Friday, the 13th of October, 1972, a charter plane carrying 45 passengers, including a college rugby team, vanished over the desolate, snow-covered Andes Mountains. For 72 days, the world thought they were dead. But for 16 survivors, including 20 year-old Nando Parrado, what they experienced was worse than death.

Trapped in the sub-zero degree temperatures for over 72 days, the survivors faced circumstances that no human should ever have to endure. Fighting just to stay alive, hope was a cruel mirage in a landscape that offered nothing but despair and death. Against all odds one man led an expedition into the mountains in a desperate attempt to reach civilization. For the first time ever, the hero of Uruguayan Flight 571, Nando Parrado, tells his story in its entirety.

Parrado, who lost his mother, sister, and scores of friends among the 29 victims of Uruguayan Flight 571, shares a complete, candid and unflinching account of the 72 days of suffering that followed the crash, including factors that led to his courageous decision to climb out of the mountains and—together with fellow survivor Roberto Canessa—save 15 others.