Hello,
It was some weeks since I last saw this and I just got thinking of it, for some reason, and I remembered the medic student did some really impressive work in the first half - what happened to him?
I don't remember him being that important later on...
There were two medical students. One was Gustavo Zerbino, who during most of the film is wearing the pilot's cap. During the crash/post-crash scene he helped tend the wounded and pulled the bar out of the stomach of one of the boys; later, when they were discussing eating the dead, he was the one who said "I believe in God and fear to have him judge me" and opposed the suggestion at first. Later, when they lined up he was one of the first to eat a piece and said something like, "Now I'm going to make sure I get something done." He went on one of the expeditions, too (the one where they were out overnight and nearly froze).
The other medical student, probably the one you're thinking of, was Roberto Canessa. He was the one who, in the crash scene, talked to the mechanic, noticed he was wearing Susana Parrado's coat and threatened him. He also attended to the injured co-pilot and told him they couldn't give him his gun. He was there when Nando woke up and attended to Susana before she died. Roberto was also the chief spokesperson for using the bodies, based on his medical knowledge. He was physically very strong and was the other obvious candidate, besides Nando, for the trek out so he was prominent throughout the movie. In the final scene with the helicopters, you can see him behind Nando but in fact Canessa did not ride back in the helicopter; they needed the space to rescue the others and only took Nando to help them locate the plane.
When they returned from the Andes, Roberto Canessa went straight back to medical school and subsequently became a pediatric cardiologist. Gustavo Zerbino abandoned his medical studies for some years, though he worked as an executive for one of the large pharmaceutical companies in Uruguay. At some point, in the 1990's, he went back to medical school and is a qualified physician today.
Diego Storm, who died in the avalanche, was also a medical student. I forget what they called him in the movie. I think that Diego deserves the credit for saving Nando Parrado's life in the hours that followed the crash.
shareYes, Diego Storm was also a medical student, although the film does not identify him as one (while Zerbino does state in the crash scene, "I've only been in med school for six months!" and Canessa tells the mechanic, "My name is Roberto Canessa, I'm a medical student and member of the team that chartered this plane.")
In actuality Diego Storm was killed in the avalanche, but the character in the film who takes his role does not die in the avalanche -- a departure from fact. That character is called "Hugo Diaz" in the movie, and is the one who suggests to Carlitos that they keep Nando warm that first night, and who gets Canessa to come look when Nando starts to regain consciousness. He is seen later on in the film, after the avalanche, and is one of the ones hugging and yelling in the helicopter scene, and the shot usually used on the DVD cover.
The real Diego did contribute to keeping Nando alive -- partly by keeping his body warm enough (as in the film) but partly, perhaps, by accident, in placing Nando in such a way that his head was in the snow. Nando had suffered not only a concussion but an actual skull fracture and swelling inside the brain would normally have caused severe brain injury and even death. However (as Zerbino says in an interview on the Stranded documentary), doctors now use cryotherapy -- treatment with cold temperature -- to prevent swelling and brain injury in cases of head trauma. A neurologist interviewed for the History Channel documentary I Am Alive states that the positioning of Nando's head near the exterior of the plane and in the snow kept his brain from swelling and is probably the major reason he survived. Diego Storm would not have known about cryotherapy in those days, but he would have known that putting Nando's head in the snow would help stop the bleeding. His prompt action and close monitoring of Nando's condition was undoubtedly critical.
I don't think a real med student would just go yank a big old hunk of metal out of someone's abdomen, lol.
shareI don't think a real med student would just go yank a big old hunk of metal out of someone's abdomen, lol.
I read that about Nando as well, regarding his head injury. The fact that he was initially left for dead near the outside of the plane during the first few hours after the crash may have ironically saved his life.
shareThe fact that he was initially left for dead near the outside of the plane during the first few hours after the crash may have ironically saved his life.
"In actuality Diego Storm was killed in the avalanche, but the character in the film who takes his role does not die in the avalanche -- a departure from fact. That character is called "Hugo Diaz" in the movie, and is the one who suggests to Carlitos that they keep Nando warm that first night, and who gets Canessa to come look when Nando starts to regain consciousness. He is seen later on in the film, after the avalanche, and is one of the ones hugging and yelling in the helicopter scene, and the shot usually used on the DVD cover."
I've been reading both books and have re-watched this movie a couple times trying to identify all the people involved. Just recently read about 17 survivors in the movie so seeing your post helped a lot. Just wondering why they felt the need to keep Hugo Diaz alive? Seems strange to do so when they more or less kept to the facts.