Grandmother survives in wilderness by drinking rainwater and ‘talking to a fox’

An 88-year-old Italian woman who got lost in a forest while looking for mushrooms survived for four days by drinking rainwater from puddles, reciting the rosary and talking to a fox.

Giuseppina Bardelli ventured into the mountains near her home in the village of Maccagno con Pino e Veddasca, on the border with Switzerland, taking a path that she had walked many times before. She was with her 57-year-old son, Sergio, but they became separated once they got to the woods.

“She lost her orientation, and she wandered off the path that she has known for more than 40 years,” Roberto, her other son, said.

She went missing last Wednesday, August 21, and it was not until four days later that she was found by rescuers.

“She drank rainwater that she found in puddles,” Roberto told Corriere della Sera newspaper. “At night she slept under trees, using vegetation to cover herself.”

She also befriended a wild fox that came sniffing around her out of curiosity.

“The fox approached her several times. They sort of became friends. And every evening she recited the rosary. She knew that every day could be her last,” her son said.