Roberto Canessa
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| Roberto Canessa, M.D. | |
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Roberto Canessa in 1974.
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| Born | Roberto Jorge Canessa Urta 17 January 1953 Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Nationality |  Uruguayan |
| Occupation | Physician, Politician |
| Spouse(s) | Laura Surraco |
| Children | Hilario, Roberto Martín and Laura Inés |
| Website | drcanessa |
Roberto Jorge Canessa Urta, M.D., (born 17 January 1953[1]) is one of the 16 survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes mountains on October 13, 1972, and a Uruguayan political figure. He was portrayed by Josh Hamilton in the 1993 feature film, Alive: Miracle in The Andes.
Contents
October 13, 1972 air crash
At the time of the accident, Canessa was a 19-year-old medical student. His fianceé was Laura Surraco, the daughter of a doctor. He graduated from the Stella Maris College (Montevideo) and played for their alumni rugby team, Old Christians Club. Between 1971 and 1979, he played eight matches with the Uruguay national rugby union team, and was also selected in 1980, for the South American Jaguars tour of South Africa.
It was Canessa who suggested to his fellow survivors that in order to stay alive,[2] they should eat the flesh of the deceased victims of the crash. Together with Fernando Parrado, he spent 10 days trekking through the Andes in search of help for the survivors.
Post rescue
After the rescue, Canessa recounted how his drive to escape from the mountains was fueled by the thought of his mother and his girlfriend. He later married Laura Surraco, and they had two sons and a daughter. He works as a cardiologist and motivational speaker.[1]
Candidate for President of Uruguay
Canessa was a candidate in the 1994 Uruguayan presidential elections but he failed to gain public support. Canessa obtained only 0.08%[3] of the vote, lagging far behind former President, Julio María Sanguinetti, whose party returned to power with 30.83% of the public vote.
Book
On March 1st 2016, Roberto, along with Pablo Vierci, published the book "I had to Survive"(ISBN 978-1476765440) in which he tells the story of how he overcame adversity to become a prominent Pediatric Cardiologist.
See also
- Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
- Nando Parrado
- Carlos Páez Rodríguez
- Old Christians Club
- Alive: 20 Years Later
- Alive: Miracle in The Andes
References
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- 1953 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Montevideo
- Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
- Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
- Uruguayan Roman Catholics
- Uruguayan people of Italian descent
- Candidates for President of Uruguay
- Uruguayan physicians
- Uruguayan rugby union players
- Uruguayan politician stubs
