In 1994, Mauro Prosperi participated in one of the toughest competitions in the world — the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, 250km race through the Sahara.

When you run 250 km through the Sahara, what could possibly go wrong? A lot, it turns out. On the fourth day, a violent sandstorm arose and kept Prosperi engulfed for 8 hours. After the storm died down, he was surprised to see how much it had transformed the landscape.

Read on to learn what happened next in Prosperi’s inspiring tale of survival!