An Italian grandmother survived five days lost in the Alps by drinking rainwater and befriending a fox after falling into a ravine, it has emerged.
Giuseppina Bardelli, 89, disappeared while foraging for mushrooms in the mountains near her home in the village of Monterecchio in the Italian Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca region, on the border with Switzerland, on August 21.
Disoriented and dizzy, Giuseppina fell 20ft into a ravine overgrown with ferns, causing her to break two ribs and perforate a lung after she became separated from her son, Sergio, while foraging.
Sergio called emergency services who sent rescue parties, drones and even helicopters before they managed to locate the elderly woman in the forest near the Swiss border four days later.
Her other son, Roberto, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper how his mother managed to survive: ‘She drank rainwater that she found in puddles. At night she slept under trees, using vegetation to cover herself.
‘The fox approached her several times, sniffing out of curiosity. They sort of became friends.’
Giuseppina Bardelli, 89, disappeared while foraging for mushrooms in the mountains near her home in the village of Monterecchio in the Italian Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca region, on the border with Switzerland, on August 21
Sergio called emergency services who sent rescue parties, drones as well as helicopters and managed to locate the elderly woman in the forest near the Swiss border four days later
Disoriented and dizzy, Giuseppina fell 20ft into a gully overgrown with ferns, causing her to break two ribs and perforate a lung after she got separated from her son, Sergio, while foraging
He said Giuseppina spoke to the fox and said: ‘Don’t do anything to me. I’m good, I’m serene.’
‘And every evening she recited the rosary. She knew that every day could be her last,’ Roberto added about his mother surviving in the woods.
He also said that he burst into tears when his mother was found alive, adding: ‘The joy was immense’.
He said that his mother, who was hospitalised after she was rescued following her 20ft fall, is now ‘quite well’.
‘The slope was three times deeper. She could have hurt herself badly,’ Roberto said. ‘It’s a miracle and that’s it. We cried our eyes out.’
Firefighter Silvio Rizzelli, who coordinated the search team, told local media: ‘She was hidden in a deep gully, full of tall vegetation. She could not see us and we could not see her.
‘The breakthrough came on Sunday morning, as rescuers were considering giving up the search.
‘After finding her, my men reported Ms Bardelli was tired but totally lucid. It was great news and surprising that a person of her age could resist.’