I remember the day of the crash very clearly. It was the end of the school year, in June, when I was leaving by plane to New York for an international internship. Me and my pals were sitting in business class, enjoying the extra space we got there for our legs. I was sat next to the emergency door. I remember looking outside the window the moment before departure. I saw how oil had spilled on the ground and a feeling of intense fear rushed through me. I had never made such a big flight before and it was the first time I was travelling without my family around. Something was telling me to leave the plane, and I slightly started to panick, as if I knew I maybe wouldn't return. I told myself to keep calm, that it was just imagination. Because I was feeling totally ill at ease with the thought that the oil was coming from the plane's engine, I decided to warn a flying attendant. He convinced me that everything was okay and everything would be alright. His words had the power to calm me down completely, and I decided to go for a nap to not think about anything. Few hours later I got awakened by the loudest noise I had ever heard. I knew from that moment the engine had exploded, but I tried to shush myself down knowing a plane always has two engines. It was when the pilot started speaking, I knew the second engine had been damaged as well. "This is your captain speaking, brace for impact." I knew from that moment I had to do something. I was the one who sat next to the emergency door, so I had to save the rest of the plane. Miles up in the air I started reading all the instructions. In the heat of the moment, I couldn't get the door opened. My hands were shaking too much and the longer it took me to open it, the more I started thinking: These are your last moments, embrace it. Each time I started tightening my seatbelt, afraid of what I was about to face. The sea started getting closer and closer and when we nearly hit the ground, I heard the door clicking. But it was too late. We started bouncing back and forth in our seats, causing everyone to get a bloody face. I believe some had even died during that crash. I pushed the door open and climbed immediately to the outside, knowing that the plane was gonna sink. The back of the plane was on fire, and I knew for sure those people had died. Fortunately a group of twenty to thirty people got to find their way outside. Knowing that it wasn't a very big plane, it seemed a big achievement. But my classmates didn't come out, and that was the worst feeling ever. Knowing I could have been dead, knowing that one of them could have been alive if I didn't sit there but somebody else did. As we were in the middle of the ocean, we had to swim for miles to find the shore. It took us about a week to get there, and some of the travellers had died in the mean time, of hunger or because they drowned in sea due to lack of energy. I had to say I was close to giving up either, but the thought of my family and friends kept me going. Arriving at the beach was the best feeling ever. But we were in an area with a lot of nature and no houses around, so we had to walk another while to find the inhabited places. I remember eating and drinking the weirdest things, such as our own pee. I never imagined living in the wild would be so hard. Every day I lived with more fear, seeing people die one by one. I must have had a very good guardian angel, because I was full of luck all the time. Knowing that I and only five others have survived this long, awful time, makes me feel either guilty but thankful. I am completely aware that it must have been a hard time to the people who love me, every day watching the news, hoping I was found. I have no clue how long I have been away, but I heard from my mother that day that it had been more than two months. That's the time I have struggled in the forest, trying to survive. I don't think I would have made it if I didn't think about all the ones I love. It's for them I kept going, and now I am so grateful for having them around. I am grateful for my life and I am grateful for all the things people have done to me. Without them, I would be nowhere. So thank you so, so much.

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