The BEST episodes of I Survived...

Every episode of I Survived... ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of I Survived...!

What would you do if you were confronted with death? What gives someone the strength to survive? Is it luck, chance, instinct? In a stripped-down, simple-yet-cinematic interview style, I Survived... allows survivors to explain, in their own words, how they overcame unbelievable circumstances -- offering insight into what got them through the experience that changed their lives forever.

Last Updated: 4/4/2024Network: LMNStatus: Ended
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Virginia Tech Massacre/Minneapolis School Bus Crash
star
9.00
2 votes

#1 - Virginia Tech Massacre/Minneapolis School Bus Crash

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/9/2008

This episode tells the harrowing story of how two students and a professor at Virginia Tech University managed to survive the April 16, 2007, massacre at the school. One of the students, Colin, had to lay motionless and play dead as the gunman shot him four times. We also chronicle the amazing story of the Minneapolis school bus with 52 children that plummeted 45 feet when a Minneapolis bridge collapsed in August 2007. Trapped in her seat, driver Kim held the brake, keeping the bus from rolling backwards, as counselor Jimmy and his co-workers rush to evacuate the children, including Kim's own daughter.

Directors: Sally Howell
Watch Now:Apple TV
Regan/Gary and Scott
star
8.50
8 votes

#2 - Regan/Gary and Scott

Season 5 - Episode 20 - Aired 6/9/2013

A 14 year old and her friend are abducted and taken to a house in the orange groves outside Vero Beach, Florida whre they are repeatedly sexually assaulted. 2 men are horrifically burned in a plane crash.

April/Mark/Jesse
star
8.36
11 votes

#3 - April/Mark/Jesse

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 7/26/2009

A young woman is brutally assaulted then set on fire by her attacker. A man is forced to amputate part of his leg after it is caught in a drive shaft. An act of kindness backfires on a long-distance motorist who is left fighting for his life at the roadside.

Michelle/Troy & Josh
star
8.33
3 votes

#4 - Michelle/Troy & Josh

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/2/2008

Three masked gunmen burst into Michelle's home and order her to rob the bank vault where she works or they'll blow up her 7-year-old. And teenagers Troy and Josh take a small sailboat out to an inlet to go fishing when they get caught by a dangerous current and are swept out to sea for six days. They must struggle to survive against heavy seas, freezing temperatures at night, burning hot temperatures during the day, and sharks that keep circling their boat.

Directors: Monique Oomen
Watch Now:Apple TV
The Taliban: Jere
star
8.33
3 votes

#5 - The Taliban: Jere

Season 5 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/5/2012

A journalist is kidnapped and held captive in Pakistan.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Singer/Romina and John
star
8.33
9 votes

#6 - Singer/Romina and John

Season 5 - Episode 22 - Aired 6/23/2013

Four young Americans, kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan, face a desperate situation: kill or be killed. And a young couple's dream holiday at a Thai beach resort turns into a terror-filled fight for survival as a tsunami strikes.

Jens & Jim/Dawn/Agnes
star
8.30
10 votes

#7 - Jens & Jim/Dawn/Agnes

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/2/2009

Two friends, Jim and Jens, and their fathers fly to Mexico for a fishing trip, but turbulence forces their plane to crash land and the foursome must fight for their lives in the ocean. Dawn is plunged into a nightmare when four armed men invade their beach home and threaten to shoot her right in front of her two young daughters. And while working at a convenience store, Agnes is abducted by an armed robber, who takes her to an open field and forces her to open the car trunk, where she finds another terrified woman bleeding from a gunshot wound.

Patrick/Renee/Sharon
star
8.29
7 votes

#8 - Patrick/Renee/Sharon

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 8/16/2009

While on a spear-fishing outing, Patrick's friend is pulled out to sea and struggles to survive as four-foot waves batter him in the darkness. Anne and her son, Ian, fight for their lives when they're attacked by Anne's gun-wielding ex-boyfriend. Driving home from a friend's house late one evening, Sharon is shot by another driver, who then takes her to an apartment where he continues his vicious assault on her.

Brandi/Joseph/Sam & Suzanne
star
8.00
7 votes

#9 - Brandi/Joseph/Sam & Suzanne

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/31/2008

Brandi and her friend, Liz, offer a ride to man who turns on them, stabbing Liz repeatedly and beating Brandi and then throwing her into a river. Joseph and two other men are stranded on a rocky, barren island for 13 days. And Sam and Suzanne are kidnapped by a hitchhiker who forces them to drive several hundred miles at gunpoint.

Directors: Sally Howell
Watch Now:Apple TV
Christine & Heidi/Debbie/Jim
star
8.00
3 votes

#10 - Christine & Heidi/Debbie/Jim

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/7/2008

Christine's and Heidi's trip on a Greek ferry becomes a nightmare when the boat begins to sink and the crew abandons the ship, leaving the panicked passengers to fend for themselves. Debbie suffers a five-day ordeal at the hands of an attacker, who keeps her blindfolded and gagged, rapes her, and forces her to sleep next to him. And a simple act of kindness results in a vicious assault for Jim when he is brutally attacked in his apartment by his neighbor after inviting the young man into his home to chat.

Directors: Sally Howell
Watch Now:Apple TV
Dan & Danielle/James & David/Karli
star
8.00
28 votes

#11 - Dan & Danielle/James & David/Karli

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 12/1/2008

A romantic walk turns into a nightmare for two young friends when a man forces them into his truck at gunpoint and shoots them both. A snowmobile outing ends in a near-death experience for two brothers when they plunge through the ice of a frozen river. A woman is brutally attacked twice by the same gang of hoodlums.

Directors: Janice Finn
Watch Now:Apple TV
Sarah/Sherman & Dee/Ellen
star
8.00
15 votes

#12 - Sarah/Sherman & Dee/Ellen

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/16/2009

A heavily pregnant woman is viciously attacked by a woman obsessed with making the unborn child her own. A couple cling to the rafters of their home as Hurricane Ike unleashes its fury on them. A woman fends off a man who has hidden in her family home for days before brutally attacking her.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Jennifer/Neely Ann
star
8.00
8 votes

#13 - Jennifer/Neely Ann

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/15/2011

A nurse is kidnapped and tortured by a serial killer. A mother and her daughter are trapped in an attic during a flood.

Directors: Sally Howell
Harold/John/Lisa
star
8.00
17 votes

#14 - Harold/John/Lisa

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/23/2011

A store manager in Saint Louis is shot during a robbery; a Minot, North Dakota teen loses his arms in a farming accident; a girl from Tampa, Florida is kidnapped by a serial killer.

Directors: Sally Howell
Jessica/Jeff and Mark/Kerri
star
8.00
5 votes

#15 - Jessica/Jeff and Mark/Kerri

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/15/2012

A woman in West Palm Beach, Florida is attacked by a man with a Machete. 2 friends are attacked by a bear in Alaska. A Wauwatosa, Wisconsin teenager is attacked with an Arkansas toothpick while jogging, but manages to stab her attacker before he flees.

Christi/Fred/Maria
star
7.95
21 votes

#16 - Christi/Fred/Maria

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/22/2008

A single mother is kidnapped, stabbed and left for dead by three hardened criminals and her heroic survival is unforgettable. A long-haul truck driver must drive his 40-ton rig through the biggest fire in Utah History. A woman is stalked and brutally abducted by an ex-boyfriend.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Reverend Albert/Lois
star
7.86
14 votes

#17 - Reverend Albert/Lois

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/8/2008

A heart-wrenching drama unfolds when a man struggles to save himself and his family from drowning in frigid waters and a female prison officer uses her strength and quick thinking skills to stay alive during the longest prison siege in U.S. history.

Directors: Lauren Thompson
Watch Now:Apple TV
Cynthia/Russ and Carol/Ron and Christine
star
7.80
5 votes

#18 - Cynthia/Russ and Carol/Ron and Christine

Season 4 - Episode 26 - Aired 8/26/2012

Students and teachers are taken hostage during the Cokeville Elementary School hostage crisis in Cokeville, Wyoming. A couple is attacked while on their honeymoon in Jamaica.

Lynda/Kendra
star
7.80
5 votes

#19 - Lynda/Kendra

Season 4 - Episode 28 - Aired 9/9/2012

A Shingle Springs, California woman displays extraordinary courage when she is attacked and raped by her former boyfriend, whom she met on an online dating website. A young mother from San Luis Obispo, California is stabbed several times by her boyfriend, Shelley Malil.

Jason/Dave and Joe/Martin
star
7.78
9 votes

#20 - Jason/Dave and Joe/Martin

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/12/2011

A canyoneering trip becomes a terrifying fight for survival when a flash flood launches three men over two massive waterfalls, and a 13-year-old boy is abducted and raped by a serial pedophile before being chained up in a buried box and left to die.

Directors: Sally Howell
Kara/Dan/Tamecka
star
7.75
12 votes

#21 - Kara/Dan/Tamecka

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/5/2011

A 15-year-old girl is abducted and raped by a man who has already killed three other young women. A photographer is trapped during the Haitian earthquake under debris in a hotel. A woman in Texas is beaten and slashed with scissors by her neighbor.

Jessyca/Derek/LaToya
star
7.73
11 votes

#22 - Jessyca/Derek/LaToya

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/3/2010

A 14-year-old girl from Eau Claire, Wisconsin is kidnapped and held captive by her neighbor who has sexually assaulted her numerous times before. A man crawls down Mount Adams in Washington State after breaking his ankle. A pregnant woman is attacked in Memphis, Tennessee by her meth-addicted neighbor.

Joan/Ida
star
7.71
7 votes

#23 - Joan/Ida

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/26/2015

A Bethlehem, New York woman is attacked in bed with a fireman's axe by an unknown man after he murders her husband; A cook is left to die in a burning room after she is shot twelve times at close range by an unknown assailant in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Darren & Chastity/Ryan/Julie
star
7.71
17 votes

#24 - Darren & Chastity/Ryan/Julie

Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 1/19/2009

A family is subjected to a vicious attack during a brutal home invasion. A rail yard worker risks his life to save a town. A realtor is attacked by a man posing as a client.

Watch Now:Apple TV
Kim/Erin and Claire
star
7.70
23 votes

#25 - Kim/Erin and Claire

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/26/2014

A young woman is abducted by four armed men in Gladstone, Missouri and held captive and sexually assaulted for 15 hours. Two teenage sisters are attacked and raped in their Port Arthur, Texas home, after their uncle is shot by a masked gunman.