An 89-year-old woman recently survived four days in the Italian wilderness. She survived by drinking both puddle water and also using foliage to protect herself from the the weather.
Authorities identified the 89-year-old survivor as Giuseppina Bardelli. Bardelli disappeared near the area of Passo della Forcora. It's a mountain pass near Lake Maggiore. She didn't resurface for four days. At the time, the 89-year-old went into the forest with her son on the search for mushrooms. However, she soon became separated from him.
To make matters worse, she became dizzy and disoriented and fell 20 feet into a gully. She broke several of her ribs in the process. Bardelli's son, Sergio, quickly reported her missing. Unfortunately, authorities struggled to locate her. She said that she could hear rescuers calling her name, but she couldn't alert them to her position.
89-Year-Old Survives
The 89-year-old used her knowledge of the area to survive. Her son said she was a true survivalist.
"My mother is like that — you can't hold her back," her son, Roberto, told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, per The Times. "She spent many years of her life, particularly when she was young, in the mountains and she is built for it."
In order to survive, she ended up drinking left over rain water in puddles. She also used a bed of ferns to cover herself from the elements. While trapped out there, she said a fox approached her on multiple occasions. Fortunately, it didn't harm her.
"They had become almost friends," Roberto said. "My mom said to her: 'Don't do anything to me.'" Later, they found her alive.
"I've made a mess," Bardelli said after her family found her. Authorities took her to a local hospital. They treated her for broken ribs and a punctured lung. However, it appears that she will make a recovery.
"The greatest thanks go to the many, even inhabitants of the community, who were close to us and helped us," Roberto told Corriere della Sera.
