We also see stories of endurance. Recently, an artist spent 12 hours bunny-hopping across the wilderness in search of help. Next time, when he decides an abandoned mine is a good setting for a picture of his legs chained together, he'll make sure he has the key to the lock.
Or imagine bobbing across the ocean in a rubber raft with nothing to drink but rainwater and nothing to eat except an occasional curious sea gull. Whether the story includes a life-threatening injury or a marathon against nature, every survival story includes a combination of suffering and misery, which is ultimately conquered by the human desire to live.