American explorer rescued off the coast of Antarctica

It was a daring rescue of an American explorer that took three nations of rescuers at all ends of the Earth.

An American scientist had a medical emergency at the McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica.

Australian teams assisted in the rescue and got the American safely to New Zealand.

What made this rescue attempt so dangerous is the few minutes of sunlight Antarctica gets a day.

And to make it worse, it is actually winter there which is an entirely iced over continent.

"You just didn't know what to expect. The planes had never been flown in that temperature before," Dr. Ronald Shemenski said. "No one's ever tried to come in pitch black darkness and land on the ice."

People who go to such remote places are forced to undergo rigorous medical testing before-hand because rescuers like this are so risky.


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