On Jan. 26, 1972, a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a DC-9 feet over Czechoslovakia. There were 29 passengers and crew members aboard. Miraculously, one of them survived. Flight attendant Vesna Vulovic. One month after her body was pulled from the wreckage, Ms. Vulovic woke from her coma. The fall from 30,000 feet broke her skull and back, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. But it didn’t kill her.

Nor did the fall destroy her life. After surgery, Ms. Vulovic regained the ability to walk. She insisted on going back to the work. Although it refused to let her fly, the airline gave her a desk job. Ms. Vulovic got married in 1977 and divorced in 1987. She met and befriended Rock legend Paul McCartney. How she survived the fall is still a mystery to this day.

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