It was just an ordinary day for Chinese construction worker Wang Jianxin. He'd been assigned to a relatively simple task – digging a five-meter hole on a construction site in the coastal city of Ningbo.

But after Wang had been digging for several hours, the unthinkable happened: One of the ditch's walls suddenly caved in on top of him, burying him under a huge pile of dirt, with no way to escape. He had no air to breathe except for a tiny pocket of oxygen that had been caught inside his helmet by chance when the ditch collapsed. He was sure that he would be buried alive before anyone could rescue him.

But remarkably, when rescuers finally reached Wang, fearing the worst, they discovered that the mud-covered construction worker was still alive and conscious. Although doctors claimed that most people could not survive for longer than five minutes in similar circumstances, Wang had managed to stay alive for two full hours, using only the tiny amount of oxygen caught in his helmet.

Wang credits his amazing survival to his Buddhist beliefs, and the meditation skills that he has learned, which helped him to control his oxygen intake.

"I knew it would not last, so I made myself relax and concentrated on slowing down my breathing by meditation. It was very quiet down there and I was surprised that despite facing death how easy it was to focus my mind and bring about the inner calm needed for meditation," he told The Telegraph.

"Later it became very hot and suffocating. I thought I might not make it back but then I heard voices and digging and suddenly could see again. It was the longest two hours of my life."