Dr. Roberto Canessa Pediatric Cardiologist Uruguay

Wharton Speaker >> Biography

Dr. Roberto Canessa was born in Uruguay on the 17 of January, 1953. He is married to Laura and has three children.  He is a renowned Pediatric Cardiologist and has been awarded three national distinctions in Medicine in Uruguay.  An outstanding rugby player representing Uruguay, and even a South American XV in 1978, Dr. Roberto Canessa still holds the record of Top Try Scorer in Uruguay. In 1972, together with a delegation of his rugby club Old Christians, their plane crashed in the Andes on their way to Chile. At 3,500 meters above sea level and with temperatures below 30 degrees Celsius, without any source of food and no contact with civilization, after 72 days, only 16 passengers survived and were rescued after Roberto and his friend walked 10 days over the mountains.