Nando Parrado

Fernando "Nando" Seler Parrado Dolgay (born 9 December 1949) is one of the sixteen Uruguayan survivors of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, which crashed in the Andes mountains on 13 October 1972. After spending two months trapped in the mountains with the other crash survivors, he, along with Roberto Canessa, climbed through the Andes mountains over a 10-day period to find help. His efforts, supported in various ways by the entire group, have been recognized through books and other media. He was portrayed by Ethan Hawke in the 1993 feature film Alive: Miracle in The Andes.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Parrado and the second or maternal family name is Dolgay.

Nando Parrado
Parrado (left) and Canessa with Chilean Huaso Sergio Catalan.
Born
Fernando Seler Parrado Dolgay

(1949-12-09) 9 December 1949
Montevideo, Uruguay
NationalityUruguayan
OccupationEntrepreneur, TV presenter, motivational speaker, writer
Spouse(s)Veronique Van Wassenhove
ChildrenVerónica and Cecilia
Websitewww.parrado.com

Background

Parrado was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, to Seler and Eugenia Parrado, the second of three children, with an older sister, Graciela, and a younger sister, Susana or "Susy.” He graduated from the Stella Maris College (Montevideo) and played for their alumni rugby team, Old Christians

At the time of the Andes crash, he was a university student. In his 2006 book, Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, Parrado described his life in the days immediately prior to the Andes:

When it finally came time to choose a college, I decided to enroll in agricultural school, because that was where my closest friends were going. When my father heard the news, he shrugged and smiled. 'Nando,' he said, 'your friends' families own farms and ranches. We have hardware stores.' It was not hard for him to talk me into changing my mind. In the end, I did what made sense: I entered business school with no serious thought about what school would mean for me or where this decision might lead. I would graduate or I would not. I would run the hardware stores or maybe I wouldn't. My life would present itself to me when it was ready. In the meantime, I spent the summer being Nando; I played rugby, I chased girls with Panchito, I raced my little Renault along the beach roads at Punta del Este, I went to parties and I lay in the sun, I lived for the moment, drifting with the tide, waiting for my future to reveal itself, always happy to let others lead the way. (p.30-31)

Parrado also states in Miracle in the Andes that after he returned from the mountains, he gave up his studies. Still coping with the loss of his sister, Susy, and their mother, both victims of the same plane crash, Parrado drifted for a period of time. Initially, Parrado helped out in his father's business, though he was interested in the field of sports car racing and for many years developed a career as a professional race car driver. After his marriage, he gave up professional racing and took over his father's hardware business alongside his older sister and brother-in-law. He also developed additional businesses and became a television personality in Uruguay. In 2020 a racehorse named after Parrado won the Coventry Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting. Parrado has given his consent for the horse to be named after him.[1]

Conferences

In addition to his work in business and television, Parrado is a motivational speaker, using his experience in the Andes to help others cope with psychological trauma.

Miracle in the Andes

Parrado co-authored the 2006 book Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home, with Vince Rause. The book references Piers Paul Read's account of the accident and aftermath, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which was written two years after the rescue (and based upon interviews with the survivors). Miracle in the Andes, however, is told from Parrado's point of view 34 years later.

Filmography
YearTitleRoleNotes
1993Alive: Miracle in The Andestechnical advisorfilm
1993Alive: 20 Years Laterhimselfvideo documentary
2002Return to the Andeshimselfvideo documentary short
2006Alive: Back to the AndeshimselfTV documentary
2007Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountainshimselfdocumentary
2009Independent Lens' (Stranded: The Andes Plane Crash Survivors)himselfTV series documentary
2010I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crashhimselfdocumentary aired on History Channel
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See also

References
  1. Cook, Chris (9 July 2020). "Talking Horses: crash hero 'thrilled' to have Ascot winner named after him". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
External audio
Owen Bennett-Jones 2006 Interview with Owen Bennett-Jones on BBC The Interview
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