At the age of 21 Pedro lived through the horrifying plane crash in the Andes, in which 30 lost their lives. With his rugby teammates he survived for 70 days in the middle of snow-capped mountains. They had no food, equipment or climbing expertise. After finally being rescued, Pedro studied economics and rose to CEO of Argentina’s biggest brewery. He now shares a remarkable story of human strength, showing how we can all influence outcomes at work and in life.
Pedro is one of the survivors of the Uruguayan plane crash that killed 30 people 40 years ago, and left 15 young men stranded in the Andes.
Pedro and his colleagues survived for 70 days stranded in the middle of the snow capped mountains, at 4000m in freezing weather, with no water or food, no equipment and no mountain expertise. The struggle for survival was an excruciating ordeal: they even had to feed from the bodies of their dead friends before they were able to send an expedition that walked out of the mountains and brought back help.
After his experience in the Andes Pedro moved to Buenos Aires, where he went back to school, completing his education with a degree in economics. He then travelled to the US where he obtained an MBA from Stanford University. Upon graduation, Pedro embarked on a successful business career, culminating with his appointment as CEO of the largest brewery in Argentina.
Pedro is not a leadership or motivational ‘guru’. He speaks about his own experiences of triumph against extreme adversity; of teamwork and leadership. He has studied his experiences and those of his colleagues from different angles and his testimony is powerfully delivered in order to help others to go through their own ‘mountains’ and achieve.
Pedro believes that he and his fellow survivors were just ordinary people, and what they did to survive is a demonstration of how strong a human being can be to overcome the most difficult challenges. You just need a strong will to survive and a disposition for team work.
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