Corporal Aimo Koivunen (1917-1989) served in the Finnish military in the WWII. In March 1944, he was a part of a commando platoon on a long range ski strike to the Soviet territory, when his patrol was intercepted, and they had to flee. He got separated from his comrades, and he got lost. He was deep in the enemy territory, with no food, maps or compass.

He had been assigned the Pervitin supply of the whole platoon. Pervitin was a methamphetamine product used as a stimulant on long range commando strikes, and as he was in distress, he decided to ingest it. He noticed the pills in the tube had frozen together (it was late winter) and he swallowed all the 30 pills at a time. Suddenly he noticed he had extra energy, and he decided to ski to the own lines, using the sun as a rudimentary compass.

He stayed awake for fourteen days and nights in succession and skied some 400 km (250 miles) to the Finnish lines. He skied into a land mine, losing his skis and three toes from his foot, yet he continued walking towards his own lines. His only food during his ordeal were spruce sprouts and a jay, which he caught and ate raw.

When he reached the Finnish lines, his body weight had dropped to 43 kg (95 lb), and his heartbeat was 200 strokes per minute.

He survived his ordeal, his wounds, and the war, and lived to the age of 71. He is survived by his children and grandchildren.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org