How did Cloud and Tifa survive the Nibelheim incident?

[jenova666]

When he goes after Sephiroth, Cloud is impaled through the chest with masamune. He then somehow manages to grab the blade without losing his fingers and lever Sephiroth off the platform. Even if this was possible due to his enhancements from Jenova cells, and Sephiroth didn't notice his imminent demise because he was too absorbed with his "mother", it still doesn't explain Tifa. We clearly see her get sliced across the chest and thrown across the reactor by the sword. How were they savable when Shinra showed up?
Also, when Tseng is mortally wounded in the Temple of the Ancients, how does he get out/survive? It's all kind of confusing.

[Xanatos]

Shinra personnel along with Dr. Hojo came soon after that I believe, guess they arrived just in time to help both Cloud, and Tifa.

I wouldn't bother myself with such petty things, it's a fantasy game after all, and if you start to question every little detail not much would make sense in universe of Final Fantasy VII, not that it does to begin with.

[Kyreaan]

Spoiler: They weren't lining it out during the story, but the impression I got out of the flashbacks and games were that Cloud and Vincent were both placed into project tanks at the mansion. It was kind of like a healing tank along with fusion with Jenova cells. Cloud ended up becoming something as a ~Sephi-Roth!~ clone and was noted as a "failed experiment." Vincent ended up becoming the FFVII Terra while having the Proto Materia in his chest. Tifa just healed up and went to Seventh Heaven, unless I forgot or missed a story line plot.

[markandrewkinzett]

That is a question that is answered in the game when Cloud nad Tifa fall into the lifestream and Cloud finds himself. However that said I do not completely understand the story myself and the explanation is very brief so I don't really understand how they survived either!!!

[Hero without a Name]

That's like saying how did Tidus survive the fall in FFX (yes I know it's an FF7 forum ). Tifa was bleeding, but if you got tifa's final limit break you see her teacher writing a letter saying he saved her and did his best to stop the bleeding, granted she could of died, but she managed to live. As for Cloud, i'm assuming it wasn't long after Cloud killed Sephroith that Hojo came in and took Cloud and Zack for his "experiments" and put them in those tubes. Either way, in the real world, if someone slashed you across the chest with a sword, unless you could stop the bleeding and no organs were damaged, you might survive, but 99% of the time, u'd be dead

[Crescent]

Tifa's martial arts teacher managed to carry her away to safety before Hojo arrived with Shinra.

[Judge Magistrate]

Maybe the two of them were already inroduced to Mako. Afterall they both lived in a town surrounded by Mako reactors.