Nando Parrado
Encyclopedia
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, also known as the Andes flight disaster, and in South America as Miracle in the Andes was a chartered flight carrying 45 people, including a rugby team, their friends, family and associates that crashed in the Andes on October 13, 1972...
, which crashed in the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972. After spending two months trapped in the mountains with the other crash survivors, he, along with Roberto Canessa
Roberto Canessa
Roberto Jorge Canessa Urta is one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972, and a Uruguayan political figure...
, climbed through the Andes mountains over a 10 day period to find help. His efforts, supported in various ways by the entire group, have been recognized through books and other media. He was portrayed by Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...
in the 1993 feature film Alive: Miracle in The Andes
Alive (1993 film)
Alive is a 1993 American movie based upon Piers Paul Read's 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which details the story of a Uruguayan rugby team who were involved in the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed into the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972.The film was...
.
Background
Parrado was born in MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, to Seler and Eugenia Parrado, the second of three children, with an older sister, Graciela, and a younger sister, Susana or "Susy". He graduated from the Stella Maris College (Montevideo)
Stella Maris College (Montevideo)
The Stella Maris College of Montevideo, commonly referred as Christian Brothers College – Stella Maris or just Christian, is a private, co-educational, not-for-profit Catholic school run by the Christian Brothers of Ireland...
and played for their alumni rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
team, Old Christians Club
Old Christians Club
Old Christians Club, or simply Old Christians, is a rugby union and field hockey club from the Solymar neighbourhood of Montevideo, Uruguay.....
.
At the time of the Andes crash, he was a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
student. In his 2006 book, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home is a 2006 book by Nando Parrado and Vince Rause.-Story:Parrado co-wrote the 2006 book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, with Vince Rause...
, Nando Parrado comments on his life in the days immediately prior to the Andes:
Parrado also states in Miracle in the Andes that after he returned from the mountains, he gave up his studies. Still coping with the loss of his sister, Susy, and their mother, Parrado drifted for a period of time. Initially, Parrado helped out in his father's business, though he was interested in the field of sports car racing
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
and for many years developed a career as a professional race car driver. After his marriage, he gave up professional racing and took over his father's hardware business alongside his older sister and brother-in-law. He also developed additional businesses and became a television personality in Uruguay.
Conferences
In addition to his work in business and television, Parrado is a motivational speakerMotivational speaker
A motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
, using his experience in the Andes to help others cope with psychological trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
.
Miracle in the Andes
Parrado co-authored the 2006 book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek HomeMiracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home
Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home is a 2006 book by Nando Parrado and Vince Rause.-Story:Parrado co-wrote the 2006 book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, with Vince Rause...
, with Vince Rause. The book references Piers Paul Read
Piers Paul Read
Piers Paul Read, FRSL is a British novelist and non-fiction writer.-Background:Read was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire...
's account of the accident and aftermath, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors is a 1974 book by the British writer Piers Paul Read documenting the events of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571.-Story:...
, which was written two years after the rescue (and based upon interviews with the survivors). Miracle of the Andes, however, is told from Parrado's point of view 34 years later.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Alive: Miracle in The Andes Alive (1993 film) Alive is a 1993 American movie based upon Piers Paul Read's 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which details the story of a Uruguayan rugby team who were involved in the crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed into the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972.The film was... |
(technical advisor) | film |
| 1993 | Alive: 20 Years Later Alive: 20 Years Later Alive: 20 Years Later is a 1993 documentary film produced, directed and written by Jill Fullerton-Smith and narrated by Martin Sheen.-Content:... |
himself | video documentary |
| 2002 | Return to the Andes | himself | video documentary short |
| 2006 | Alive: Back to the Andes | himself | TV documentary |
| 2007 | Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains | himself | documentary |
| 2009 | Independent Lens' (Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors) | himself | TV series documentary |
| 2010 | I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash is a 2010 television documentary recounting the tragedy of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 from the perspective of survivor Nando Parrado... |
himself | documentary aired on History Channel |