Aimo Koivunen

Aimo Allan Koivunen was born in Alastaro, Grand Duchy of Finland on 17 October 1917 to Frans Vihtori Koivunen and Aune Sofia Koivunen. They had six children, of which Aimo was the eldest.[2]

Koivunen was a Finnish soldier, assigned to a ski patrol on 15 March 1944 along with several other Finnish soldiers. Three days into their mission on 18 March, the group was attacked and surrounded by Soviet forces, from whom they were able to escape.[3] Koivunen became fatigued after skiing for a long distance but could not stop. He was carrying his patrol's entire supply of army-issued Pervitin, or methamphetamine, a stimulant used to remain awake while on duty.[4] He consumed the entire supply of Pervitin, and had a short burst of energy, but soon entered a state of delirium and eventually lost consciousness. Koivunen later recalled waking up the following morning, separated from his patrol and having no supplies.[5] In the following days, he escaped Soviet forces once again, was injured by a land mine, and stayed in a ditch for a week, waiting for help.[5] Having skied more than 400 km (248.5 mi), he was found and admitted to a nearby hospital, where his heart rate was measured at 200 beats per minute, and he weighed only 43 kg (94.8 lbs).[5] In the week that Koivunen was gone, he subsisted only on pine buds and a single Siberian jay that he caught and ate raw. He was found, and survived, until he died in 1989 at the age of 71.[5]