Aimo Koivunen: The soldier who survived WWII by overdosing on Meth

Over the course of World War II, Finland staved off a Soviet invasion, allied with Germany to invade the Soviet Union, and then fought with the Allies against Germany. And soldier Aimo Koivunen’s meth-fueled survival story breathtakingly embodies that chaos.While fleeing a Soviet ambush, Koivunen took a near-lethal overdose of methamphetamine. The drugs helped Koivunen cover hundreds of miles of ground – but they nearly killed him in the process.

Aimo Koivunen’s Fateful Ski Patrol

Heavy snow covered the ground in Lapland on March 18, 1944. Finnish soldiers had been fighting for their country for over four years of nearly uninterrupted war. Deep behind enemy lines, one Finnish ski patrol found itself surrounded by Soviets.

Gunfire broke the silence. Men scrambled for safety. The ambush turned into a race for survival as the Finnish troops fled on skisAimo Koivunen led the Finnish skiers through deep, untouched snow. Koivunen’s fellow soldiers relied on him to cut the tracks for the rest of the troops to glide across. The grueling work quickly drained Koivunen — until he remembered the package of pills in his pocket.

Back in Finland, the squad had received a ration of a stimulant called Pervitin. The tablets would give soldiers a burst of energy, commanders promised. Koivunen initially resisted taking the drug. But his men were in desperate circumstances.

So Koivunen reached into his pocket and pulled out the stimulants.By chance, Koivunen carried the Pervitin supply for his entire squad. Still fleeing the Soviets, pressing through the snow, Koivunen struggled to pop a single pill in his mouth. The thick mittens meant to protect him from arctic conditions made it impossible to take a single dose of Pervitin.

Rather than stop to parse out the recommended dose, Aimo Koivunen downed 30 pills of pure methamphetamine.

Immediately, Koivunen began skiing much faster. His squad matched his pace initially. And the Soviets fell back, unable to keep up with the new pace.

Then Koivunen’s vision went blurry and he lost consciousness. But he did not stop skiing. In a blackout state, Koivunen continued to cut through the snow.

Meet Aimo Koivunen, The Soldier Who Survived WWII Thanks To Accidentally Overdosing On Meth