Surviving a plane crash
Gustavo Zerbino has achieved a lot since the 1972 Andes disaster
NEARLY 50 years have passed since the world abandoned Gustavo Zerbino and his Old Christians team-mates in the Valley of Tears, 12,000ft up in the Andes. The team had been travelling from Montevideo in Uruguay to Santiago de Chile to face Old Grangonians (Old Boys). After a grave navigational error, the pilots began their descent over what they believed to be Chile’s Central
Valley. They were, in fact, descending into the Andes mountain range. It was 72 days after the plane crash that they were rescued; two players had trekked for days to find help, with their team-mates trapped on the mountains. Their story has been told many times, surviving by doing the unthinkable and finding sustenance on the remains of those lost in the crash. “Those who died on the mountain live; they live forever in our hearts and minds,” Zerbino reflects.
Key to survival was an optimistic outlook to life, one which continues to this day. Zerbino says: “Despite challenges and the hardship we faced, we enjoyed it intensely, like a game of rugby, having to tackle death straight on. We did it and our prize was life.”
Once back in Uruguay, Zerbino continued to tackle life straight on. He knocked door to door to find enough players to field a team, with the one formed going on to win 12 Uruguayan
championships in 14 years. Zerbino, despite having lost 40kg, made his International debut on the wing (he later played in the back row) just ten months later, helping Uruguay record their first-ever win against Chile.
Perhaps inspired by tragic events, this team was one of great heritage. Of the Teros team of 1973, three became presidents of the Uruguayan rugby union (URU), including Zerbino from 2007 to 2011.
During his tenure much was achieved – Nations Cup entry, the development of a high-performance programme and the establishment of the URU training base. “We now have the high-performance centre at Charrúa (in Montevideo), the most important high-performance rugby facility in Latin America,” he says.
Zerbino says that development would not have been possible without the support of Albert Ferrasse and Bernard Lapasset, who first visited Old Christians following the crash in 1974 and hosted them in France in 1991 when the film about the crash, Alive, was released.
They put him in contact with Mark Egan at World Rugby and, alongside Hernán Rouco Oliva, the HP pathway was created, leading to their invite to the 2008 Nations Cup in Romania. “Mark Egan told me, ‘If you don’t win a game, you don’t come back’. We were playing Russia with 15 left on the clock and we scored two tries to win the match. From that point on, we got invited back every year. Uruguay has now hosted four or five, winning the last three.”
Uruguay now enjoys more fixtures than ever, with rugby played in all corners of the nation, from prison rehabilitation programmes to state schools; Uruguay is a model for growth.
When asked to name his biggest achievement as URU president,
Zerbino speaks of collaboration across the foundations of rugby in Uruguay. “(We) had a problem of governability… I spoke to all the presidents of the clubs and asked for their support. Following this, we achieved governability and now have support from all our clubs.”
Zerbino works in pharmaceuticals but is also a founder of the charity
Rugby Sin Fronteras (Rugby Without Borders, rugbysinfronteras.org). It shows how rugby is a transformative tool that can turn problems into opportunities, through matches between groups divided by conflict, such as Jewish and Palestine children, or ex-British and Argentinian military personnel. Such is the impact of the work, the charity was invited to meet the Pope in 2015, where a game was played with players from WWI nations in the name of peace.
Despite these achievements, the memory of what happened all those years ago is never far away. Annually, Old Christians compete for the Copa de Amistad (Friendship Cup) against Old Boys. “In 1974 we returned to Chile by train because nobody wanted to get on a plane. It was only two survivors, (Antonio) Vizintín and I. We arrived after three days on a train and played. There was an escort of cops as if we were the Rolling Stones!”
The match was broadcast live all over Chile, something which had never been done before. “The friendship that was born back then continues today, almost 50 years on,” Zerbino adds.
Having overcome one of the toughest imaginable challenges, Zerbino has spread positivity through his love of rugby. But, above all, he seems to credit success to the fate of being Uruguayan. “Uruguay has a long history of adversity. Us Uruguayans show the world how to face up to adversity; 16 totally different people cheated death through unity, surviving 72 days in extreme temperatures on a glacier at 4,000 metres. Uruguay is a tiny country but in football has won multiple World Cups. That is what Uruguay has, a huge heart.”
When discussing Covid, he reiterates the need to develop a mentality of solidarity. “In a few years we’ll forget the pandemic because it’ll be under control, but it has lessons. Us humans are stronger when we are united.
“In the Andes, the world believed us dead. We had to develop and rebuild our belief systems to survive.”
Lessons can be learnt from this.
“In the mind, only two moments exist. The past, in which we feel guilt for things which we cannot change, with the weight of our losses, and the future, which is unknown, provoking angst and fear. In other words, the mind suffers. The only place you can feel happiness and enjoyment is in the present.”
As Zerbino says “adversity develops creativity”. Perhaps a message of hope and positivity that is helpful to us all.
“In a few years the pandemic will be under control but it has lessons. Humans are stronger when united”