History Series / IShouldntBeAlive

** This quote by the narrator from "Climb Out of Hell," involving the man who scaled the cliff with a broken pelvis: "Jordan's four day ordeal would have finished most people. But his stubborn refusal to give up saved his life."

* {{Determinator}}: Otherwise known as "the drive to survive." Examples include crawling for miles in minus fifteen degrees, scaling a cliff with a shattered pelvis, fending off wild beasts and hiking for two days down a mountain with a broken ankle, not to mention sometimes lasting weeks without food and over twenty-four hours without water.

* {{Determinator}}: Otherwise known as "the drive to survive." Examples include crawling for seven miles with a broken pelvis and femur in temperatures as low as minus fifteen degrees, scaling a cliff while being unable to walk with a shattered pelvis and hiking for two days down a mountain with a broken ankle.
** This quote by the narrator from "Climb Out of Hell," involving the man who scaled the cliff with a broken pelvis:
--> '''Narrator:''' Jordan's four day ordeal would have finished most people. But his stubborn refusal to give up saved his life.

* LetsSplitUpGang: Depending on the situation, this can be a good idea or a bad idea. One person becoming split from the rest of the group is usually bad but other times, especially in cases where one person is unable to walk or when there are young children involved, the father will head on alone to get help.

** In another, whilst stranded on the Swiss Alps in a storm, a woman has enough signal to ''text'' for help on her Nokia but not enough to make any calls and this ''does'' end up saving her and her companion's life.

NeedsWikiMagicLove.

* BornLucky / BornUnlucky: Justin in "Crashed in the Rockies" has the best of luck and the worst of luck. He survives a plane crash unscathed, hikes out and manages to get help... and then the rescue helicopter crashes.... but ''[[UpToEleven he survives that too!]]''

** Arguably, [[spoiler: Lorenzo]].

* PetTheDog: "Terror on the Zambezi." After being attacked by a hippo, having his arm mauled by a crocodile and at threat from lions and hyenas drawn to the blood from his injury, a cape buffalo comes across Alistair Gellatly in the bush in the middle of the night. Alistair is rightly afraid it might attack him, as cape buffaloes are quite dangerous animals, but instead it just lies down beside him for the night.

* BornLucky / BornUnlucky: Justin in "Crashed in the Rockies" has the best of luck and the worst of luck. He survives a plane crash unscathed, hikes out and manages to get help... and then the rescue helicopter crashes.

** Similarly, Roger Sargeant in "Hell in the Desert" decides to strike out on his own for help, leaving his girlfriend behind with her two daughters because they're quickly running out of water and he knows he can make quicker time on his own.
--> '''Narrator:''' Leaving is hard but they're miles from civilisation and he fears the kids won't be able to keep going.

** Guttingly, there are lots of moments like this is the series: a plane passing overhead or a ship on the horizon that simply misses the lost survivors. One example is when lost hikers Brandon and Gina stumble upon the remains of a camp... only to realise it's the camp of somebody who, like them, got lost, was never found and died the previous year.

** An example of this is where, when they were lost and after the son broke his leg, the father had to leave the son in a cave, and this was when it was very cold, and with the snow no less.

** "Lost in the Snow," a couple towing their baby in a makeshift sled have a brief moment of terror after they realise he's been very quiet for a while, fearing that he has succumbed to the cold.

** In much that same vein, we have the episode "A Dad's Worst Nightmare", where the father is stranded with his five year old daughter in the Australian Outback.

* IWillOnlySlowYouDown: In "Till Death Do Us Part" Lynda Bosworth has to convince her husband to go on without her, reasoning that he can travel much faster without her. Tom eventually concedes but it clearly causes him distress.

** Matthew [=McGough=] in "A Dad's Worst Nightmare" states several times during his interview that he would have been ''less'' afraid if his five-year-old daughter Shannon hadn't been there with him. [[AdultFear Seeing her suffer and worrying about how she would cope on her own if something happened to him caused him much more emotional and mental stress than if he had been on his own.]]
** Lynda Bosworth convinces her husband to leave her behind in "Till Death Do Us Part," since he is capable of moving much faster than she can keep up with and can get help to them faster alone.
** Similarly, Roger Sargeant in "Hell in the Desert" decides to strike out on his own for help, leaving his girlfriend behind with her two daughters because they're quickly running out of water and he knows he can make quicker time on his own.
--> '''Narrator:''' Leaving is hard but they're miles from civilisation and he fears the kids won't be able to keep going.

* HopeSpot: The climax of "Walk into Hell", [[spoiler:David collapse from severe heatstroke a few yards away from the Colorado River, forcing Mark and Jordan to rush to it to get him hydrated. When Mark came to the river, he spotted a group of off-duty paramedics kayaking and they came to their rescue. Sadly after hours of trying to revive him, David dies.]]

** Matthew McGough in "A Dad's Worst Nightmare" states several times during his interview that he would have been ''less'' afraid if his five-year-old daughter Shannon hadn't been there with him. [[AdultFear Seeing her suffer and worrying about how she would cope on her own if something happened to him caused him much more emotional and mental stress than if he had been on his own.]]

** Linda Skvarna, lost in the Grand Canyon for three weeks, was accompanied by her dog, who she says was a great comfort to her. When they were separated, the situation she was in turned a lot worse on her end as she began to decline into hopelessness.

* IWillOnlySlowYouDown

** In "Till Death Do Us Part" Lynda Bosworth has to convince her husband to go on without her, reasoning that he can travel much faster without her. Tom eventually concedes but it clearly causes him distress.

** A milder case in "Vacation Nightmare" but still pretty frightening. The survivors of a plane crash in the jungle recount that during the night they heard a large animal somewhere nearby but were unable to see where or what it was in the darkness. Eventually it moved on and left them.

** Linda Skvarna, lost in the Grand Canyon for three weeks, was accompanied by her dog, who she says was a great comfort to her. When they were separated, the situation she was in seemed a lot worse.

* {{Determinator}}: Otherwise known as "the drive to survive." Examples include crawling for seven miles with a shattered pelvis and broken femur in temperatures as low as minus fifteen degrees, scaling a cliff with a shattered pelvis and hiking for two days down a mountain with a broken ankle.

* HappilyMarried: A heartwarming postscript to "First Date Nightmare."
** Also in "Hell in the Desert."