Endurance runner Mauro Prosperi participated in the grueling six-day ultra-marathon, Marathon des Sables, in Morocco in 1994. Halfway through the event, a sandstorm disoriented Prosperi and he began running in the wrong direction.

After 24 hours, he ran out of food and water and, due to the heat, could only continue venturing during the early morning and in the evening. He found an abandoned Muslim shrine where he took shelter and survived by drinking his own urine and consuming the blood and guts of bats on the ceilings.

Prosperi had given up hope and attempted suicide by slitting his wrists, but his blood coagulated due to his dehydration, which ultimately kept him alive. He managed to regain composure and continue walking through the desert and consuming any available resource. He eventually found an oasis and was spotted by some nomads who took him to safety. He ended up 299 km off route and had lost 40 lb in body weight. He re-entered the race eight years after his nearly fatal run and completed it, placing 131st.