Against All Odds: How My Friend Sam Survived 9 Days Lost in the Himalayas

He fell four seconds straight down a mountain cliff. He survived on bugs and his own urine. Most incredibly, he never gave up on himself.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my friend Samuel “Sammy” Vengrinovich going missing in the Himalayas above Dharamsala. The search and rescue operation involved helicopters, local volunteers, and an international effort coordinated by his family. Against all odds, Sam made it out alive after being lost for nine days.

Today, I watched Sam tell his story from his hospital bed in India for local media, his arm in a cast, his spirit somehow unbroken. How he managed to survive almost defies rational explanation. What he learned about the power of self-love in our darkest moments might just change how you think about resilience.

In many ways, Sam’s story echoes the Israeli spirit itself: daring, resourceful, and fiercely unwilling to give up—even when the path forward is steep, broken, or lost in the fog. It’s that tenacious will to survive—and to do so with dignity—that makes his story resonate so deeply, not just as a personal triumph, but as a national metaphor.

The Fall

Sam’s ordeal began during what should have been a simple 1–2 hour hike to Indrahar Pass. He was with a group of Indian friends when thick fog rolled in like “a blanket of cloud” that completely disoriented them.

“I could not see down anymore. I could not see the direction of how to get down anymore. Everything was blocked by a cloud,” Sam recalled. Separated from his group and increasingly anxious as sunset approached, he began making riskier moves to find a way down.

“On one of the jumps, I slipped, and I just fell for like four seconds straight down the mountain cliff.”

He was conscious when he landed. His first thought? “That’s one way to get down the mountain.” But when he looked at his arm, he saw it was broken. When he tried to stand, he couldn’t. 

Nine Days of Survival

What followed was nine days that tested every limit of human endurance. With a broken arm, fractured knee, and fractured leg, Sam somehow scaled down cliffsides using only his left hand to reach water.

“I don’t know how I climbed down the cliff with broken arm and broken legs. I was literally scaling down the mountain with only my left hand,” he said. “Most people couldn’t even walk with the injuries that I had. But I think I had so much willpower to survive.”

For food, he ate whatever he could find: “I started to eat ladybugs, caterpillars, beetles, anything that was alive that was around me… At that point, I didn’t care anymore. I knew I needed energy. I needed protein.” He also drank his own urine for two days and sucked water from plant stems.

The nights were the hardest part. “The nights felt like they were forever. The nights felt like it was like one week,” Sam remembered. “I would be laying down and I would watch the full moon go over me. And when the full moon disappeared, I knew it was another 4–5 hours of night.”

For nine days, he saw no other human being in a country of 1.5 billion. Not one.

The Secret to Survival

But here’s what’s most remarkable about Sam’s story: it wasn’t just physical resilience that kept him alive. It was something much more profound.

“What really helped me and kept me alive is I really tried to generate so much self love for myself,” Sam explained. “I was giving myself compliments every time I could move 10 meters. I said, ‘Good job, Sam. Good job, Sam.’ I was trying to be like a mother and a father to myself through this process.”

He talked to his injured limbs like they were children: “I said, it’s OK. We’re here together. We’re going to be fine. I know it hurts, but we’re working together as a team. I really broke down my body into like family parts.”

This wasn’t just positive thinking—it was a deliberate practice of radical self-compassion in the face of potential death. “I was never negative. I tried to keep a very positive outlook. The positive love that I was able to give to myself helped me keep on going.”

The Rescue

On day nine, Sam finally spotted civilization: a village called Thadi with temples visible in the distance. When he saw three people across a river, he screamed for help. They spoke English and told him to stay put while they sent villagers up the mountain to get him.

“That’s when I first started crying because it was the first time I realized I’m not alone anymore,” Sam said. “It felt really good to have had that feeling after nine days.”

The rescue effort hadn’t waited nine days—it had begun in earnest by day three, after his friends realized he was missing and his family sounded the alarm. His sister launched a GoFundMe campaign. His cousin in Israel coordinated a private helicopter search. Volunteers in Dharamsala joined local guides combing the trails. WhatsApp groups lit up across continents—from Tel Aviv to Goa to Delhi—with people trying to figure out where he might have gone.

Sam later recalled seeing the search helicopter in the distance at one point during his ordeal—but by then, he had already descended so far from the original route that the rescue teams couldn’t hear or spot him.

“I only found out when I got out how many people were looking for me,” Sam reflected. “Honestly, I was so focused on surviving. But it means the world to know how many people cared.”

The Message

From his hospital bed, preparing for surgeries on his arm and knee, Sam’s message is simple but profound: “Never give up on yourself. Try to love yourself as much as you can in this life because it’s a short life. You don’t need to suffer as much as you do.”

He continued: “When you make mistakes or if you fall, be compassionate and kind to yourself. Life will be so much better.”

This comes from someone who literally fell off a mountain and survived by practicing exactly what he preaches.

“I feel like the amount of love I was able to create for myself was being resonated outside,” Sam said. “There’s no limitations on what we can do as a people if we come together, if we choose love.”

What’s Next

Sam will recover. He’s already planning future treks (though he promises to be “much, much more careful”). His father is flying from America to be with him. And yes, when I asked if he’d trek again, his answer was immediate: “Of course I will.”

But this experience has only deepened his original mission. Sam came to India to heal from war trauma and learn breathwork techniques to help other Israelis. Now he’s living proof of something even more powerful: that the same self-compassion practices that help us process trauma can literally keep us alive in our darkest moments.

“I think everything that happens to you is for the better,” he said from his hospital bed, his voice carrying the weight of someone who truly understands what that means.

“There’s no limitations on what we can do as a people if we come together, if we choose love,” Sam continued. The mountain taught him that love—especially the love we give ourselves—doesn’t just heal. It saves lives.

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You can support Sam’s continued recovery expenses through his family’s GoFundMe.