I Shouldn't Be Alive Season 4, Episode 5: Death in the Sea of Cortez

A Dad's Worst Nightmare

Divorcee Mathew McGough is taking his five-year-old daughter Shannon for an overnight camping trip to Wallaroo Rocks, deep in the Western Australian Outback. It's Mathew's last chance to spend time with his daughter before he packs up and moves to South Australia to start a new life, so he's keen to make it a trip to remember. When Mathew takes a wrong turn it triggers a sequence of disastrous events that puts both their lives in serious danger. After 8 days in the outback Mathew is on the verge of death and confronted with an excruciating dilemma - kill his young daughter, or leave her to face a painful death alongside him, in one of the world's most hostile environments.

60 min

Shipwrecked Family

On the final leg of an amazing two year sailing voyage, the Silverwood Family hit some stormy weather 180 miles west of Bora Bora in the South Pacific. It's no big deal, until a broken mast pin and a submerged rocky reef suddenly turns their adventure into a potentially deadly one. As the mast snaps, it falls on dad John, severing his leg. It's up to teenage son Ben, to become the man and help to save his family. He gets the family off the sinking boat, but as they spend a terrifying night on a reef in the middle of the ocean, will rescue get to them before Ben's father dies of blood loss?

60 min

Trapped on a Ledge

Charlie Hench has set himself a big challenge before he turns the big 50 - to fulfil his dream of a late-summer solo hike through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. But he underestimates the challenge ahead. Charlie is at 9,000 feet when an early snowstorm suddenly blows in. The amateur hiker is soon out of his depth, lost in the snow-covered landscape. A missed step on the treacherous boulders and he's crashes over the side of the mountain. Only a ledge, the size of a car bonnet, saves him from falling 500 feet to his death. Charlie is trapped and badly injured, with a shattered wrist and fractured spine. He's alone and there's no way up or down. He knows no-one will even know he's missing for days, but will he survive trapped on the exposed on the side of a cliff?

60 min

Crashed in the Rockies

Trainee pilot Justin Kirkbride takes two friends, Tommy and Larry, on a sightseeing tour of the Rocky Mountains, but crashes on a steep, snowy mountainside. Larry breaks his leg, while best friend Tommy is knocked unconscious. Only Justin escapes unscathed. He decides to hike 45 miles down the treacherous mountainside in search of help. As darkness falls he picks up a cell signal and manages to summon a rescue helicopter. He joins the rescue pilots in the search for his two missing friends, but their crash site is hidden by thick pine forest. The search is about to be called off when disaster strikes again - the rescue helicopter clips a tree and smashes into the mountainside. Can Kirkbride escape with his life for the second time in 24 hours? And will his passengers now succumb to their injuries during the freezing night?

60 min

76 Days Adrift

Steven Callahan departs from El Hierro in the Canary Islands, in Napoleon Solo - a sloop he designed and built himself. He's bound for Antigua as part of the Mini Transat 6.50 single-handed sailing race from Penzance, England. One night a ferocious storm severely damages his boat. He escapes the sinking vessel in an inflatable life-raft, nicknamed Ducky, with a meagre supply of food and water. For 76 days he is adrift in the Atlantic Ocean at the mercy of the currents and winds. During his ordeal he is battered by the elements, attacked by sharks and plagued by constant punctures to his raft. It's an epic story where one man's will to survive is put to the ultimate test.

60 min

Alone in the Amazon

Fresh-faced twenty two year old Brit Benedict Allen embarks on an epic six-month expedition which will take him from the mouth of the Orinoco River to the Mouth of the Amazon River through six hundred miles of uncharted jungle. On the final leg of his journey Benedict meets two gold miners who steal his guides then threaten to kill him. Fearing for his life Benedict is forced to tackle the wilds of the Amazon with only his faithful dog, Cashoe, for company. His inexperience nearly costs him dear when he capsizes his canoe, losing virtually all his provisions. Embarking on the 100 miles journey through dense rainforest to safety Benedict is struck down by Malaria and a severe case of 'jungle madness'. On the verge of starvation he makes the drastic decision to eat the one living thing he can catch - his beloved dog. But will he ever find civilization?

60 min

Vacation Nightmare

Newlyweds Brandon and Brandy Wiley are on a backpacking adventure in Costa Rica, when their 8 - person Cessna crashes in dense tropical rainforest. The pilots and one passenger are killed on impact. Of the five remaining survivors two are seriously injured, including American Michael Packard. With the plane's emergency beacon malfunctioning and the crash site obscured by thick cloud, the chances of rescue appear remote. When darkness falls, the group face poisonous spiders, swarming ants and jungle predators. By morning and with Michael's condition worsening by the hour Brandon and Brandy face a terrible dilemma - do they go in search of help or stay with the two injured men? It's a decision that could ultimately cost lives.

60 min

River of Fear

Running through the majestic splendour of the Grand Canyon the Colorado River offers construction contractor David Whittlesey with just the kind of challenge he craves. He embarks on a 3 week, 280 mile white-water rafting expedition, opting to tackle some of America's most gruelling rapids on his own. Just days away from completing his journey David's raft capsizes, gets stuck and he loses all of his life-saving supplies. As he attempts to scale a cliff face, which is his only way out, he falls and injuries himself. He is trapped, alone and knows that hypothermia could kill him before anyone even knows where he is or that his life is in danger.

60 min

Killer Crevasse

Mountaineer Jim Davidson and best-friend Mike Price embark on a mountaineering expedition to conquer the snow-shrouded summit of Mount Rainier in Washington State. On the descent disaster strikes when, without warning, Jim plunges into an 80 foot crevasse, pulling Mike down with him. Having survived the fall and an avalanche of snow Jim discovers that partner Mike has not been so lucky. To save his own life, Jim has to figure out a way to scale the sheer frozen walls, injured, without the right gear or a climbing partner. Can Jim overcome his grief and find the courage and skill to attempt the toughest climb of his life?

60 min

Hike into Hell Canyon

Twenty five year old nurse Linda Forney and her pet dog Cocoa Gin set off to explore one of the seven natural wonders of the world - the Grand Canyon. On route to a native Indian village she takes a wrong turn and ends up lost, alone and with no food or water. Totally disoriented Linda hikes deeper into the maze of sub-canyons that make up the Grand Canyon. With temperatures exceeding 100 degrees and surrounded by exotic and dangerous wild animals, Linda finds herself in a real fight for survival. After weeks of little water, dehydration and starvation start bring her close to death. Then she finds herself trapped in a canyon, with no way out.

60 min

Death Climb

In January 1999, Jamie Andrew and his friend Jamie Fisher are trapped on a ledge in the French Alps when a surprise snowstorm blows in.

60 min

Hell in the Dessert

Just three months into a new relationship, Roger Sargeant, his new girlfriend Shelly and her two young daughters Tiffany (9) and Michaela (5) are on a day trip in the Arizona desert. Things go badly wrong when they get lost and are then forced to abandon their car. In a desperate bid to walk out they become separated. Over two hellish days and nights, Roger and Shelly's family, independently battle to escape soaring summer heat, dehydration, hostile terrain, rattlesnakes and prowling gangs of people smugglers.

60 min

Ocean Disaster

Skipper Steve Conway, safety officer Roger Stone and four student sailors are competing in a 4 day, 600 mile yacht race from Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. But in the dead of night and just 60 miles in, their 38ft yacht, Cynthia Rose, springs a leak and capsizes. What began as a fun-trip has just turned into the men's worst nightmare. Roger and two students are trapped inside the capsized boat, whilst Steve and the other two students have been thrown overboard into freezing shark infested waters. Only five of the six men survive.

60 min

Left for Dead on Everest

50 year-old Australian mountaineer Lincoln Hall attempted to climb Everest in 1984 but didn't reach the summit. Now, 22 years later, he has a second chance. Despite his age, Lincoln fulfils his lifelong dream, but on the descent is struck by a deadly form of altitude sickness known as a cerebral oedema. Unable to climb and suffering from hypothermia, Lincoln is left for dead at 28,000ft. His survival is nothing short of a miracle.

60 min

A Father's Deadly Dilemma

In 2003, David Hunt and his 11-year-old daughter Leia, set off on a snowmobiling adventure in the Quebec back country. Disaster strikes when David's snowmobile hits a snow drift and crash lands into a ravine. Stranded miles from safety with a badly broken leg in sub zero temperatures; David's only chance of survival rests with his daughter Leia. It's the greatest test of her young life and one she can't afford to fail.

60 min

I Shouldn't Be Alive Season 4 Episode 17

60 min