They say that Italian nonnas go to great lengths to provide the best food for their family. None so much as 89-year-old Giuseppina Bardelli who trekked through the woods in the mountains near her home in the Italian village of Monterecchio to hunt for mushrooms.
She was with her 57-year-old son, Sergio, when she became separated from him and fell into a gully, breaking ribs and perforating her lung.
The search party was raised in the Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca region, which borders Switzerland, but after four days there was still no sign.
Giuseppina had fallen into a ravine and was hidden was hidden by tall vegetation, and it was only on the fifth day that the search party made a breakthrough.
Describing how Giuseppina survived, her son Roberto told the Corriere della Sera newspaper described: “She drank rainwater in puddles, she slept under trees, using vegetation for cover.”
Firefighter Silvio Rizzelli told local media: "She was hidden in a deep gully. 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."
Her family have revealed that Giuseppina drew on her past experience as a member of the Italian Alpine Club to help her survival.
