We’ve often wondered how we’d hold up in a struggle for survival. Sure, we have a plan in mind for when the burglar alarm goes off in the middle of the night or if someone tries to grab our purse. But what would we really do if put to the test? The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life (Grand Central Publishing, 2009) by Ben Sherwood contains real-life stories of those who have survived traumatic events — a mountain lion attack or a capsized boat, for instance — or battled illness and won. In the case of Ellin Klor, she survived both — after a knitting needle pierced her heart in a freak accident, CT scans detected an early stage of breast cancer.

Check out thesurvivorsclub.org for a Survivor IQ quiz that tests your immediate reactions to situations and classifies your approach. (We’re a Connector type, for instance.) You’ll also find resources for dealing with challenges such as alcoholism, bankruptcy, breast cancer, divorce and job loss in four different stages: Just Found Out, Dealing With It, Recover & Thrive and Worst Case. Watch video interviews and read stories of featured survivors, or become a member and share your story. There are plans to eventually offer a SurvivorMatch tool, where users are paired up with a Survivor Mentor, who has gone through a similar experience and can offer support.

Do you have a survival story you’d like to share with VIVmag? Click here to submit it to VIV Moments and you could be featured in an upcoming issue!

Tags: alcoholism, battled illness, Ben Sherwood, Breast cancer, cancer, Dealing With It, Hachette Livre, health, Medicine, Personal life, Positive mental attitude, Recover, Survivors Club, The Survivors Club, Thrive, Web 2.0