Owner of Guinness World Record for surviving the longest time without food or drink is Austrian man who was locked up at age 18 before police ‘totally forgot’ about him for 18 days
Owner of the Guinness World Record for surviving longest without food or water is an Austrian man who was locked up at the age of 18 before police ‘completely forgot’ about him for 18 days
- A forgotten prisoner in Austria survived 18 days in a cell without food or water
- After being wrongfully imprisoned in April 1979, he remains the world record holder
Most scientists agree that humans can survive only a few days without ingesting food or water.
A healthy human body should be able to survive only 21 days without food – and only three days without water.
Yet an Austrian man turned out to be a medical mystery when it was discovered that he had gone without food or water for 18 days.
Andreas Mihavecz was accidentally placed in police custody after he was involved in a car accident as a passenger and was not responsible for the accident.
He was taken to a cramped basement prison in the small town of Höchst on Lake Constance, Austria, and quickly forgotten by the police.
The then 18-year-old survived on a diet of condensed water from the walls and was miraculously found after reports that the room smelled.
Andreas Mihavecz holds the record for surviving the longest without food or water after being wrongfully detained by police and ‘completely forgotten’
An archive post from April 1979 from the newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, entitled ‘Officials forgot prisoner in cell: convicted’, said Andreas had lost 50 pounds and took weeks to return to work.
Guinness According to world records, officers found the man ‘on the brink of death’ in the cell.
Andreas worked as an apprentice bricklayer and his concerned mother was reportedly ignored by police officers.
Three German officers had mistakenly arrested him for the traffic violation, thinking the other had released him.
The records show that inspectors Markus Weber, Heinz Ceheter and Erwin Shchneider were on trial for “gross negligence during their term of office.”
During the trial it became unclear who was responsible, as each officer blamed the other.
It turned out that one of the officers had filed a missing person’s report just a day before Andreas was found, even though his concerned mother had requested a report days earlier.
The Austrian man was discovered 18 days later after reports that the room smelled, he was later compensated by the High Court in Vienna
The report was issued on a form that had been invalid for a decade and did not reach a senior officer until a week later, the filing said.
Despite the circumstances, the three officers were only sentenced to fines of approximately 4,000 marks (approximately GBP 1,777.48) each, according to Hamburger Abendblatt.
The High Court in Vienna later awarded the damages he sought of 250,000 shillings (about 36,000 marks and 15,996.24 GPB), the newspaper said reported.
According to Guinness World Records, Andreas has the ‘longest survival without food and water.’