In February 2007, German paraglider Ewa Wiśnierska was training near Manilla, Australia, when a massive thunderstorm formed. She flew and got sucked into a powerful updraft inside a cumulonimbus cloud.
She was rapidly lifted to nearly 10,000 meters (over 32,000 feet)—higher than Mount Everest—enduring hail, lightning, temperatures around -50°C, and severe oxygen deprivation. Covered in ice, she blacked out for about 45–60 minutes.
As the storm weakened, she descended, woke up at a safer altitude, and managed to steer her paraglider to a safe landing about 54 miles (around 87 km) away after about 3.5 hours in the air. She survived with frostbite on her face, plus bruises—the same storm tragically kil*ed a Chinese paraglider caught up in it.
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