Recently, I watched three movies- Breakthrough, Cast Away, and Charged. All three are unusual survival stories. In breakthrough, a boy drowns in cold water when an ice layer over a body of water breaks. In spite of revival efforts by the medical team, the boy’s vital organs stop functioning. The boy’s mother reaches his bedside and starts praying. Miraculously, his heart starts working again. He is transported to another facility, which has experts dealing with these types of cases. The doctors explain a very grim prognosis to the family members. The mother does not lose her faith in God and keeps believing that her son is getting well soon and walking back home. She completely surrenders to God. To the surprise of the medical team, the boy recovers very fast defying all the odds and goes back to normal life. Many people keep wondering why God saves a few selected ones but not others. The boy is left with this big question; why is he the survivor?
In Cast Away, a FedEx employee is going on an airplane with three other people. While the plane is over the Pacific Ocean, it crashes. Everyone dies except him. The ocean waves push him on an uninhabited island. He explores that small island but does not find anyone else. Some FedEx packets also wash away towards the island. This man uses materials from the island and the washed away packets and builds things to live there. He does not lose hope to escape. His main inspiration to live is his girlfriend whom he loves. He unsuccessfully tries to escape a few times. Finally, after 4 yrs, he builds a raft and escapes from the island. He comes to know that his girlfriend has married someone else and has a child too. He meets that girl again. They both still love each other but decide that it is in the best interest of each other not to continue this relationship. The movie ends with a scene in which he is standing on crossroads and one of the roads goes nowhere.
In Charged, the main character is walking through Yellowstone National Park when he comes across a live power line left open and unattended. Unaware of this he accidentally touches the power line and is severely electrocuted. Somehow, he walks a few miles and finally gets help. He goes through a long treatment and recovery process, which involves multiple surgeries, amputation of his left hand, admission to ICU, etc. He gets a prosthetic arm and learns to live an independent life. He keeps hiding his disability from others. This tragedy affects his relationships but at the same time gives new meaning to life. He finally finds a community, which has various types of disabled people. They live together without hiding their disability. Everyone is openly showing his or her amputated body areas. Their disability is not a hindrance to help each other, enjoy life, and live it to the fullest.
Dr. Bharti Raizada