I didn't know how I did it

by Yacoub Al Dweik (Jordan)

A leap into the unknown Canada

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Friday has always been my most beautiful day of the week, but not that Friday. I traveled on my first adventure outside the borders, specifically to an iceberg in Canada, because the view of the ice with mountains is hardly seen in my country. The plan was completely clear, I would set off at dawn from the starting point then head east about 20 kilometers between icebergs until I reach my desired village before dark. I told a friend of mine about that journey and it was the best thing I have ever done in my life. I started my journey at dawn on Friday and by the afternoon I traveled a good distance. After a while I got tired and sat for a little rest. Within a few minutes, the weather had changed rapidly, a blizzard came. I couldn’t see anything but I continued my way to reach the village before dark set in. Unfortunately, it turned out I was walking towards the wrong direction. It then became dark out and the blizzard didn’t stop. I was tired but I couldn’t take a rest because I believed I was only several meters away from the village, when in fact I wasn’t. It was a long night, I didn’t sleep or stop walking. It was very exhausting walking through that blizzard. After a few hours, the blizzard ended and I realized I was lost. With no phone signal, I was totally isolated. I was very thirsty and hungry because my water bottle had run out and I had eaten all my food. I wished I could've eaten the ice at that moment, but I knew my tongue would be stung by ice if I did so I put some ice in my bottle then put it inside my coat, this melted the ice and I was able to drink. I was very cold and needed to urinate. I remembered that I had a plastic bag, so I urinated in the bag and carried it. The bag was quite warm and against my hands, I started gaining feeling in my fingers. I took out my compass to find out which way to go, but then realized the harsh truth. I had to go east which meant having to get off a 1400-meter-high iceberg. I stayed there until the evening thinking perhaps I shouldn't get too far because my friend will hopefully call the rescue team and they’d be here at any moment. I lost hope that someone would find me and I didn’t want to die. I decided to get off the iceberg and go about my way. I reached a small cliff which after looking at it made me very frustrated. With a height of 20 meters down, I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. I was sure that I’d die if I stayed there. Eventually, I decided to find a logical way of getting down. I looked around and saw a tree three meters away from the edge. I decided I had to make the jump and catch it or make a fall of twenty meters down. So I jumped to the tree, the first branch broke, but I was able to grab hold of three other branches. I embraced the tree as if it were my wife. The tree had withstood my jump and I began to descend it. I then jumped to the ground and continued my way towards the east slowly. It was the third morning, I was severely wounded and my legs hurt me a lot due to the sudden fall between trees. I then saw a strong flash of light and thought I was dreaming. I started to scream, "I am here", and then the rescue helicopter appeared! This was the first time I’d been on a helicopter. My friend had told the rescue teams that I was missing. Finally, it was over! This was the best feeling I’ve ever felt after three days of suffering. This was all due to my will to survive. To summarize, if you want to survive, you will do anything and find a way. The nature didn't scare me, I loved it and now I respect it more.