She discovered a boat and a neighboring shack on the eighth day. She thought the boat was a hallucination at first, but when she touched it, she knew it was genuine.
Local fisherman discovered her the next day, attended to her injuries, and brought her back to her father.
Her mother and the other ninety-one people on the airplane died in the disaster. “What made me the sole survivor?” Years later, Koepcke pondered. “I’m troubled by the concept. It always will.
After obtaining a degree in biology, she returned to Panguana to research bats, continuing her parents’ love of science.
She refers to it as her “sanctuary” and is now the director of the research station. Koepcke’s narrative still has resonance over fifty years later.
