Vesna Vulović

Vesna Vulović.
Vesna Vulović (1950–2016) was a Serbian flight attendant who holds the Guinness world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 metres (33,330 ft). She was the sole survivor after a briefcase bomb tore through the baggage compartment of JAT Flight 367 on 26 January 1972, causing it to crash over Czechoslovakia. She spent days in a coma with a fractured skull and many broken bones, and was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. Vulović eventually relearned how to walk, but continued to limp for the rest of her life. She was widely regarded as a national hero in Yugoslavia. Guinness recognized her world record in 1985. She was fired from JAT in the early 1990s for taking part in anti-government protests, but continued her work as a pro-democracy activist for decades. The final years of her life were spent in seclusion and poverty, and she struggled with survivor's guilt until her death.