Annette Herfkens
| Annette Herfkens | |
|---|---|
| Born | Venezuela |
| Occupation | memoirist, motivational speaker, finance |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Alma mater | Leiden University |
| Genre | memoir |
| Website | |
| annetteherfkens |
|
Annette Herfkens (Maracaibo, 29 April 1961) is the sole survivor of Vietnam Airlines Flight 474 which crashed into a mountain on November 14, 1992 in Vietnam. She survived eight days with multiple injuries and sustained herself only on rainwater. The plane, a Soviet-made Yakovlev Yak-40 jet built in 1976, was carrying 25 passengers and six crew when it crashed en route to Nha Trang Airport. Some passengers survived the initial impact but died before they could be rescued. Herfkens' fiancé, who was travelling with her, died instantly upon impact.
In 2014, Herfkens published the memoir recounting her experiences Turbulence: A True Story of Survival. It has "received great applause from [its] audience" and great critical acclaim from Deepak Chopra, Kirkus Reviews and other authors.
Annette Herfkens was born in Venezuela to a Dutch family. She was raised in the Netherlands, where she studied law at Leiden University. Her older sister Eveline Herfkens became a banker and Dutch politician. After completing an internship in Santiago, Chile, Annette became a management trainee for ING Bank, eradicating professional barriers as the first female executive to be sent abroad by a Dutch bank. She was assigned first to New York City, then to London and in 1989 accepted an offer from Banco Santander to help set up the Emerging Markets Department in Madrid. She went back to work just a few months after the airplane crash in 1992 and was promoted to Managing Director one year later. In 1996 she was appointed to Santander’s office in New York City.
Herfkens also writes and speaks about the gains that come with loss. Nine years after she lost her fiancé in the crash, her son was diagnosed with autism; she now also works with parents of autistic children.
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Wikipedia