Aimo Koivunen's Meth-Fueled Ski Escape

In 1944, Finnish soldier Aimo Koivunen was fleeing the Russian Army when he accidentally swallowed an entire strip of methamphetamine pills meant to keep troops awake, taking about 30 times the normal dose. Supercharged and disoriented, he skied roughly 250 miles across the snow, stepped on a land mine, and then survived for about a week alone in a ditch by eating a raw bird, pine buds, and pine cones until he weighed only 94 pounds.

When rescuers finally brought him to a hospital, doctors found his heart racing at about 200 beats per minute after the overdose and ordeal. He pulled through and went on to live for another 45 years.

Previous Fact Next Fact