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It was a quiet, dark night when my youngest son and I were preparing to leave the kitchen after dinner. It was only the two of us who were in the house that night. The soft, gentle sounds of the night made us feel at ease, and just as we were about to turn off the kitchen lights, a strong, sharp noise made us startle and freeze, and our skin crawl. The strong noise of a big rock crashing against our terrace's floor made me fear for our safety. I took the biggest, sharpest knife in the kitchen (as if I were some kind of a skilled warrior, which, of course, I am not) and ran toward the backyard. Lola, our Doberman dog that was on the roof terrace, started barking so loudly and sharply that it could be heard all over the neighborhood. She was even trying to climb the fence, like a panther after its prey. As I was running, I could hear the noises of a person running on the roof, and suddenly, I was there, looking at a man climbing down the neighbor's fence toward their property. My heart was pounding and I was sweating cold drops of fear. I ran back inside and called the neighborhood's police patrol. They arrived in no time, but the apartment building next door, where the man had come from, was absolutely silent, peaceful, and dark. No one answered the police's call. There was nothing we could do, except hope that it would not happen again. It was Lola, with her dark black fur, who warned us, and it was also she who defended our house and ourselves. Had it not been for her, whose barks and desperate jumps frightened that man, I don't want to imagine what would have happened. To this day, we appreciate Lola's loyalty and braveness. Caring for the ones who love her, and whom she loves too, evidently.

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I’ll never forget the day I decided to take a shortcut on a solo hike through the Sierra Nevada. It was meant to be a peaceful day in nature, just me, the trail, and a thermos full of coffee. The morning was crisp, the sky clear, and the mountain air made every breath feel like I was inhaling adventure.

The trail was familiar I’d done it a few times but this time, I spotted a narrow path veering off to the left. A shortcut, maybe? It looked a bit steep, but I figured I could save an hour. That was my first mistake.

About 20 minutes in, the terrain changed from firm dirt to loose shale. Every step became a calculated move. The edge of the cliff was now uncomfortably close, and one misstep meant a hundred foot drop. I froze.

Worse still a section of the trail crumbled beneath my right boot, and I slid forward, catching myself on a twisted branch growing out of the rock. I remember gripping it so hard my knuckles went white. My legs dangled over the edge, and for a moment, everything was still just the wind, my breath, and the echo of falling pebbles.

Adrenaline kicked in. I planted my foot against the rock wall, pushed back, and scrambled like an animal to a safer patch of ground. I sat there, heart pounding like a war drum, until I could breathe again.

It took me two hours to carefully make my way back up to the main trail. When I finally saw the familiar tree line, I could’ve kissed the ground.

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During a family vacation, my brothers and I went scuba diving with a tour group. Everything started off perfectly the water was clear, the reef was full of life, and we were all excited to explore. But somewhere along the way, we lost track of the group. When we looked around, there was no one else in sight. We were alone underwater.

At first, it was scary. The ocean felt huge and quiet, and we didn’t know which direction to go. But instead of panicking, we stuck together and remembered our training. We stayed close and started making noise by tapping on our tanks with a metal object. It was the only way we could try to get someone’s attention.

After what felt like forever, we saw a flashlight in the distance. One of the dive guides had heard us and came to find us. We were safe.

That day, I learned how important it is to stay calm, work as a team, and trust each other especially when you're deep in the unknown.

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Head to Head with a Hammerhead

I'll never forget the day I came face to face literally with a hammerhead shark. It happened during a family trip to the Galapagos Islands, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The sun was shining, the ocean sparkled like a sheet of glass, and everything seemed perfect for a snorkeling adventure.

At first, everything was peaceful. I floated on the surface, watching colorful fish and all the diversity underneath. The water was so clear that I could see the coral, rocks, and shadows on the ocean floor. I felt relaxed, free, and completely safe.

That feeling didn't last long.

While swimming a little farther from the group, I turned my head underwater and then, out of nowhere, bam! I crashed headfirst into something solid. My heart skipped a beat. It wasn't a rock, and it wasn't a person.It was a shark.

A hammerhead shark, to be exact. Our heads had literally collided under the water. For a second, I didn't know how to react, I was too shocked to even move. But as soon as we hit, the shark flinched and quickly darted to the left. I instinctively swam to the right. Somehow, I had hit it right on the nose with my forehead.

In that split second, everything changed. The calm ocean now felt endless and dangerous. My breaths came faster through the snorkel. I scanned the water around me, but the shark was gone. Still, the fear remained.

I swam back toward my family as fast as I could, trying to act normal so I wouldn't scare anyone. Once I reached them and we got back to the boat, I finally let myself process what had just happened.

It was terrifying, but also unforgettable. I learned that nature is unpredictable and that even a shark might get just as startled as a human during a surprise encounter. Since that day, I've had a deep respect for the ocean and its creatures. And yes, I still go snorkeling but now I always look twice before turning.

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During a school field trip to the mountains, something unexpected happened. Our class was on a hiking excursion with a few teachers when we accidentally took a wrong path and got separated from the rest of the group. As it started getting dark, we realized we were lost and still far from the campsite.

We stayed calm and looked for a safe place to wait. While searching, we saw some wild animals in the distance it was scary, but we tried not to panic. We used our jackets to stay warm and stayed close together to feel safer. Luckily, one of the teachers had a whistle and a flashlight. We used them to make a signal.

That same night, a rescue team found us after searching the area. They had seen the light and heard the whistle. It was a huge relief. That experience taught me how important it is to stay calm, be prepared, and always follow instructions during outdoor activities.

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A survival moment I had was when I was playing with fire and used fireworks. There's a big one called a "bumblebee," and I lit it. The problem is, it goes wherever it wants. It decided to chase me. I moved to the side, and it moved with me. I ran like crazy until I threw myself on the ground, and it flew over my head. I almost got burned that day. Lesson learned.

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My story happened this past Easter vacation with my friends.

The idea was to camp on some land my grandfather owns; said land is part of the Tequila hill.

Many years ago, my family and I had gone there; the road was good, and I had even ridden alone on horseback.

This time we went, I didn't think the road would be so steep and full of rocks.

When we started walking along the road, I realized how deteriorated it was, and also that the weight I was carrying in people and things was too much. I knew that if I continued, the truck's tires might splinter. I was scared.

So I decided to tell them to get out of the truck and walk to where we were supposed to stay overnight.

When they did, I had to find an alternate route, so I traveled along an unfamiliar, swampy road, with only me in the truck.

At one point, I reached a rather swampy slope, and on my right side, a cliff. It wasn't very high, but if the truck went over the edge, I wouldn't be able to stop it.

I want to emphasize that the truck is manual, so I had to be very skillful with the brakes and clutch.

At one point, I got stuck with the truck; it got stuck in some mud. I couldn't get the wheels off; they slid too much.

Because of the weight and the sinking, the truck wouldn't roll back.

The only thing I could think of when it happened was to get out and jump at the door. I knew I could fall or the truck could roll backward, taking me with it.

I jumped so hard that the truck came out of the puddle and began to roll backward. I remember that adrenaline rush of the truck rolling backward with me hanging onto the door.

I managed to get into the cab, unlock the truck's ignition, put it in gear, and hit full throttle. One tire flew off and the other burned, but I managed to get the truck up.

When I finally got to where we were staying, my friends were worried because it had taken so long, but I acted normal.

I just got out, drank a glass of Coca-Cola, and lifted the hood of the truck.

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One time, I got stuck in an elevator — and I’ll seriously never forget it. It was just a normal afternoon, I was heading to an appointment, totally chill, kind of distracted like always. I stepped in, pressed the button, and out of nowhere… it stopped. The lights went out, there was no sound, just silence. And I was completely alone.

At first, I thought, “Okay, it’ll move in a second,” but the seconds turned into minutes, and I started feeling that heavy pressure in my chest. I pressed all the buttons (as if that would magically fix everything, haha), but nothing happened. My heart was racing, and it felt harder to breathe.

I sat down on the elevator floor and tried to calm myself. I remembered something my mom always says: “Breathe. If you lose your calm, fear wins.” So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and just focused on not panicking.

After what felt like forever, I heard a voice through the intercom saying help was on the way. A few minutes later, the lights came back, and the elevator finally moved.

When the doors opened, I walked out smiling like I had just survived a movie. Even though I was scared, I didn’t let fear take over. That moment showed me I’m stronger than I thought sometimes, you just need to breathe and trust that things will be okay.

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Among the experiences I can consider a survival experience, I can't really name any serious ones, but what I can recall is a situation where my physical integrity was in danger due to my sleepiness. This happened around 2019 when I was studying medicine at LAMAR. Back then, it was normal to get up early to get to class by 8 a.m. and return home by 6 p.m. However, the long study days during application periods, project presentations, or clinical cases prevented me from sleeping even three hours at a time. It was then that we had so many jobs piled up that on average I only slept 1 hour at a time, usually from 5 to 6 am and if I was lucky I could sleep about 15 minutes between classes or I took micro naps to be able to perform, but at the end of a whole week of presenting that lack of sleep my body was weak, to the point of falling asleep more than once at the wheel and that's why I feel that if I hadn't stuck to keeping my mind active on the trips from the university to my house I think I would not be here anymore because of a car accident due to lack of sleep.

The only thing that can be compared to making a decision where my life was in danger is that when I was about 15 years old and I was mountain biking, I had a difficulty on the road and I lost control of my bike, so I remember thinking about what I should do, whether to crash into a rock or fall off the side of the road, I clarify that this road led to something similar to a hole in which I could not get out without help, so when I found myself alone I thought that falling on the rocks would be better, since I could walk out of there on my own two feet, but when I flew and hit them my helmet was fractured to the point of being useless, so now I know that maybe I could have died on that occasion and that I made a very stupid decision just because I thought it would be easier to get out of the stones than the hole because I was alone.

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One time I really felt in danger was when I went camping at the beach with some friends. Everything was super fun at first we set up our tents right next to the sand, made a bonfire, and were just enjoying the night. But later, we found out there were actually crocodiles really close to where we were camping. Like, literally right next to the tents, near some bushes.

At first, we thought someone was just joking, but then we saw them real crocodiles, just lying there. It was honestly terrifying. We all tried to stay calm, but inside, I was freaking out. I didn’t even sleep much that night.

In the morning, we packed up super fast and left. It was definitely one of the scariest experiences I’ve had.

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A few months ago I had one of the toughest experiences of my life I went to train on the highway in Manzanillo, planning to do a long ride along the coast. Everything started well the weather was nice, and I felt strong  I had already ridden about 50 kilometers away from my home when suddenly, I had a bad fall.

I lost control of my bike and hit the ground hard. I scraped almost my entire body  my helmet cracked, and my cycling shoes got torn. For a few seconds  I just trying to catch my breath and understand what had happened. The pain was intense especially in my hands where the skin was almost completely gone.

After a moment I realized I could not just stay there. It was getting late, my phone had no signal, and there was no one from my family around to help me. I was completely alone on the beachside road. I had no choice but to get back on my bike and try to ride home. Every movement was painful  grabbing the handlebars with my injured hands was incredibly hard.

The ride back felt endless. I was tired, hurt, and every bump on the road made the pain even worse. Still  I kept pushing, knowing that staying there alone would be even more dangerous. It took me several hours, but little by little, I got closer to home.

When I finally made it  I was exhausted and in a lot of pain, but at the same time, It is an experience I will never forget

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When I was 10 years old, my family and I went skiing in Utah. One afternoon, while we were all having lunch together, my 8 years old brother and I decided to get on the ski lift by ourselves, without telling our parents.

At the top of the mountain, we got off the lift, but my brother accidentally skied off the main trail and fell into a wooded area full of trees. We were very far from the rest of the people, and because of all the trees, no one could see us. It was freezing cold, and we had no idea what to do.

We tried to walk through the deep snow with our heavy ski boots, carrying our skis, but it was exhausting. We wandered for about two hours, freezing and scared, until finally the mountain rescue team found us. They took us to the medical services center to warm up and make sure we were okay.

It was a terrifying experience, but I learned a lot about staying calm in difficult situations and about always sticking close to my family.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, I went through a really scary time. At that point, everything felt uncertain, and there was so much fear everywhere. I remember feeling especially worried about my dad. He was the one who had to go out to work every day, and I was so scared that he would catch the virus.

Every time he came back home, I would feel nervous. I would quickly ask him to wash his hands and change his clothes, but even then, I wasn’t sure if he was safe. I kept thinking about how badly the virus could affect him, and I was scared of losing him.

It was hard to live with that constant fear. I tried to stay positive and keep everyone calm at home, but deep down, I was always worried. I also made sure to stay inside as much as possible and avoid going out, hoping it would help protect my family. Every time I heard news about more people getting sick or dying, it just added to the anxiety.

Luckily, my dad stayed healthy throughout it all, and the situation slowly started to get better. But those months were full of fear and uncertainty. Looking back, I learned how precious life is and how important it is to take care of each other during tough times.

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I took a trip to Colombia with my family for my 15th birthday. We were in Cartagena, and some people sold us a private boat ride to a famous little island nearby (I don’t remember the name). The day started off great we got to the island, and it was really beautiful. But we had to leave early because it looked like rain was coming. Halfway back, the storm hit hard crazy wind, huge waves, and rain so intense it felt like needles stinging your skin from the force of the wind. The boat’s roof flew off, and we were totally exposed. The boat kept slamming back down after bouncing off waves, and it felt like we could flip over any second. We were in the middle of the ocean, and I was terrified. Luckily, we made it back to shore. Later, the hotel staff told us those boat trips were illegal, those boats weren’t licensed to go that far because it was so dangerous. We learned that lesson the hard way.

Now it’s a wild story my whole family remembers and even laughs about when we tell it.

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China Varela

After graduating high school, I traveled to Seattle with a friend to work on a goat farm. We were supposed to meet a alpine group from our school to summit Mount Rainier, but they couldn’t come due to passport issues. My friend and I decided to go alone.

I was very nervous because my brother had once been in a mountain accident where his best friend died. We didn’t have much experience, so we watched videos on how to tie ropes, cross crevasses, and use our gear properly. My brother also gave us some advices.

The first part of the climb wasn’t too hard. We camped, and then the glacier began. We roped ourselves together, but it was freezing, dark, and Mount Rainier is full of huge crevasses. We were tired and lost our way several times, reaching dangerous cliffs.

At one point, we had to climb a ladder over a crevasse. I forgot to tie my ice axe to myself, and I dropped it. I collapsed crying because it’s very dangerous to continue without an ice axe. Still, we decided to keep moving.

Later, a guide found us and said it was too late to summit safely. We roped up with him and started descending. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise , a huge avalanche crashed down right next to us. We nervously laughed, but we had to cross that same area, risking another collapse.

One girl panicked on a crevasse and froze, but the guide yelled at her to move. We all managed to cross safely.

It took hours to get down. We were sunburned, bruised, exhausted, and our families were extremely worried because they hadn’t heard from us.

It was one of the scariest but most unforgettable experiences of my life.

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I have always been a very curious person, and I tend to open appliances or anything that has those typical green boards. One day, I opened an old battery, and unfortunately, acid leaked out, which burned part of my hand, and I also started having trouble breathing. They took me to the hospital and were able to stabilize me. To this day, I still have the mark on my hand, and the doctor said that if I had continued inhaling that, I could have died.

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About a year ago, I went camping with my family in an area that, luckily, wasn't too far from the city. At first, everything was fine, we had already set up and prepared everything. But later, it started to get dark and it was time to sleep. As I was shaking the dirt off my shoes before entering my tent, I began to feel a sharp, burning pain in my foot. At first, I didn't think much of it until I turned on my flashlight and saw a scorpion. I quickly panicked and told my dad, who took me to the hospital. On the way, my foot was swelling, and I felt a little dizzy. Since we weren't too far from the city, we quickly arrived at a hospital where they treated me, and soon I began to feel better. Today I still camp, but I'm even more careful.

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One night we almost froze to death in the Talampaya desert. I went camping with my friends for two nights in the desert, but none of us had real camping experience and we didn’t have the necessary gear or supplies to stay out there for two nights. We arrived at 9 p.m. and had to set up the tents with only a few lanterns we had. The cold was so intense that, after finishing the setup, we tried to sleep two people in each tent, but it wasn’t enough to handle the cold. In the end, we all ended up sleeping together in just one tent to share body heat.

We fell asleep due to the alcohol, but when we woke up, our bodies were completely numb from the cold.

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About 3 years ago, it was going to be the birthday of a very good friend of mine and he invited us to party to celebrate. I only knew my birthday friend and two others friends, the others I met them right there. For this time it got a little ugly the situation in the city, a few days before there was a shootout in andares and I think another in landmark, the truth is that we did not think anything bad would happen, but surprise. We were already inside the site and it was not even 12:00, when I feel that someone was grabbing me by the feet, so I turned back thinking they were looking for something on the floor, but then I turn around to see the whole place and everyone was crouching. Obviously, my instinct was to do the same thing, I didn’t even think about it and when I realized I was also on the floor. That’s when I realized something was going on, I think it was the longest minutes of my life, you could hear glasses and bottles breaking, and of course the music kept playing. I had a thousand things going through my head, but the thing that terrified me most was thinking about my mom and how she would find out something happened to me, I honestly thought I was going to die at that moment. No one knew what was going on and I just held onto my friend because she was so scared and I told her that nothing was about to happen to us. It all happened very quickly, after that I just heard someone yell for us to run aside at the count of 3, then when I heard the 3, everyone stood and ran away. We were all taken to a cellar, but again the thought came that I would die there, there was no way out and we were all crammed and clearly locked up, that’s when we met everyone we went with. We had a few more minutes and they told us that everything was fine and that we could get out of there, so we all went out on the street and it was when the cops told us that no one could leave and that we should go back inside until they did their job. We had to go in again, all of us still scared and trembling with fear, not knowing what happened. The place continued to function as usual, only that everyone inside was sitting and worried. When we were inside a friend came screaming out of the restroom, so we all got scared again and he proceeded to say very happy that he had found a singer inside, another of the girls with whom we were also was very happy and asked for a photo when he came out, but everyone else was very confused, so we took her photo as we could, which cost us because we were all still shaking from the fright. After that we had to keep waiting, until it was 3:00 am and we decided to leave because we could not stay there any longer. We had to walk and go around a lot to get to the cars because we could not pass because the street was closed. Then we would walk all together to take care of each other until we got to the cars. When we were on our way home we were talking about the chances that it would happen to us and that we would never forget that day or my friend’s birthday, we began to say that although we met that same day we could already consider ourselves as "close". Fortunately, we were well and nothing serious happened to us, but the fright stayed for a long time and even I stopped going out to that area and for a while to those places.

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Two years ago, I went on a trip with my friends to Tapalpa. It was super exciting because it was the first time I traveled without my family. I felt so free and happy.

After visiting the "Piedrotas," we decided to rent some ATVs and explore the mountains. Everything was going great, and we had a great time until something bad happened.

As we were going around a curve on a hill, I lost control of my ATV. The brakes didn't work, and I couldn't stop. I hit a tree and flew down a small slope. Luckily, the tree and the slope were there to stop me. Otherwise, I probably would have fallen into the ravine. Honestly, I could have died.

At first, I was really scared, but I didn't feel any pain, maybe because of the adrenaline. My friends ran to help me, and at that point I only had a few scratches and bruises. After that, I had to call my parents, and well... they weren't very happy. They scolded me a lot and grounded me, but they were just grateful I was ok.

The next day, I woke up in pain all over my body. At the doctor's, they told me I had a broken wrist, sprains in both feet, and a large purple bruise all over my right leg.

This experience taught me a lot. Now I always check vehicles before getting in, and I'm more careful when I'm driving. It was very scary, but in the end, it made me more careful and responsible. I'm very lucky that nothing serious happened to me, because otherwise, I wouldn't be here.

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When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I lived one of the scariest experiences of my life. After kindergarten, my mom, my friend, her mom, and I went to McDonald's to celebrate. We spent hours laughing, playing, and having the best time.

On the way home, out of nowhere, a terrible storm hit. Rain poured down like a waterfall, and the streets quickly turned into rivers. As we drove, we reached a street that was completely flooded. We thought we could make it throug, but we were wrong. The car stalled and started sinking into the deep, rushing water. Panic filled the car as the water began rising inside.

With no other option, we had to climb out through the windows while the rain kept pouring down on us. I was terrified, thinking we might drown. Luckily, some kind strangers saw us and rushed to help. To make things even crazier, a friend of my friend's mom, someone who looked like he came straight out of a movie about gangsters, showed up to help.

Even though my mom was really scared, they managed to get us home safe. I’ll never forget how close we were to danger that day, and how brave we had to be to survive it!

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One of the last days of my senior year, we had a pajama day at school. As I usually did, I drove myself and my youngest brother in my brand-new car — a gift from my parents five months earlier. At the time, I was 17 years old and didn’t have my driver’s license yet. I had decided I would just drive very carefully until I turned 18 and could get it officially.

That morning was hectic. I rushed out the door still in my pajamas, dragging my brother along because we were already running late. I quickly started the car and sped off, feeling anxious and stressed from the chaotic morning. On top of everything, my dad had just had surgery, and it had been a tough week for our whole family.

As I stopped at the first red light right outside my house, I noticed a National Guard patrol car speeding past with its sirens blaring. They ran their red light, so after waiting a few seconds to let them pass, I started driving again when my light turned green. Suddenly, another large patrol truck came speeding toward me. I hit the brakes as fast as I could, but we crashed horribly.

I immediately started crying hysterically, asking my brother if he was okay. I was terrified — not just because of the crash, but because I knew I didn’t have my license. Within seconds, several police officers got out of their vehicles, asking for my name and telling me to get out of the car. I have never felt so stressed and scared in my life. The adrenaline was rushing through my body, but at the same time, I was frozen with fear about what would happen next.

The car was so badly damaged that we couldn't even open the doors it took a lot of effort and several people helping us to get out. I called my mom immediately, and we ended up spending the entire day dealing with the National Guard and figuring out what to do.

Thank God everything eventually turned out okay. But the fear and suspense I felt in those moments — knowing that just a few seconds’ difference could have cost both my brother’s life and mine — was something I’ll never forget. It was a crazy day, but thankfully we were both fine in the end.

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One time, when I was 14 years old, I went on a family trip to Tapalpa. My grandpa has a house there, so the whole family went and we all reunited there.
On the first day, some cousins and I wanted to use a RZR to go out and explore the town and the surroundings.
But our fathers didn’t let us because they said it was too dangerous to go into the mountains without an adult, especially because it was raining.
Thanks to our insistence, the second day in the afternoon they finally let us use it.
While we were on the trail going downhill, we were going very fast, and my cousin tried to turn right without using the brakes, which caused the RZR to flip over.
While it was flipping, one of my cousins put her arm out and ended up breaking it.
Another cousin wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, so when the RZR flipped, he hit himself and ended up crashing into the rest of us.
Luckily, nothing happened to me.
But it was very dangerous for us to be that irresponsible, so in the end, we all learned our lesson and realized that we need to be more careful.

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When I was little about 11 years old, I was traveling with my dad and we wanted to go to six flags, I've always been tall so I passed the height allowed to go up to all the games perfectly so my cousin, her boyfriend, my dad and I got on a roller coaster where the seats on which you sat turned around/spin every specific time and the things where the seats were were exactly for 4 people so we all fit perfectly, I sat in the corner next to my dad, the game started and my cousin's boyfriend was recording with his cell phone and you all will know what happened, his cell phone fell but luckily it was where our feet were but as the game was turning the cell phone didn't fall and I had the excellent idea of bending over the belt and reach the cell phone before it fell, I don't know what I was thinking of doing that on such an extreme roller coaster, to end my great luck the roller coaster was just going down in “picada” so my dad grabbed me from my arm very hard so that I wouldn’t fall, my cousin and her boyfriend were traumatized, I saved his phone but ended with a loose arm that paramedics have to accomodate.