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..
