Real Risk

S2 E7 Lost in the Himalayas - The Impossible Tale of James Scott

Richard Harris Season 2 Episode 7

Three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, three weeks without food. We all know the saying, but some people just refuse to acknowledge these kinds of rules. James Scott, a young medical student was such a guy. He left Australia for an adventure in Nepal, a clinical placement which would set him up for his return to start a career in surgery back home. But a poorly judged trek at the beginning of the Himalayan winter left him trapped without food, starving to death in a rock shelter in sub zero conditions. 43 days later, as close to death as you ever want to come, he was found thanks to a relentless search by his sister Joanne.

It is an extraordinary story of courage, stubbornness and the ingrained will to live.