Dutch Tourist Found Alive and Well after 18 Days in Spanish Ravine
You watch these nightmarish scenarios play out on TV in series like I Shouldn't Be Alive, but they never cease to amaze.
After 18 days trapped at the bottom of a ravine, a Dutch hiker was found alive in Spain on Wednesday in what rescuers are calling a true miracle.
Mary Anne Goossens, 48, arrived in the southern town of Malaga on June 15 for a ten-day vacation. Then, after straying from a hiking path near Nerja, she became lost in the mountains.
Her relatives reported on June 23 that she had been missing for a week, adding that she arrived in Malaga on June 15 for a 10-day vacation and the next day went to Nerja to do some hiking. Goossen booked a room in Nerja, but her phone was off, her credit cards unused, and her suitcase remained in the empty hotel room. Her ex-husband and one of the couple's children arrived on June 22 to personally take part in the search.
It seems that she got lost after spending a day hiking. It got dark very quickly and she kept walking and walking hoping to find a village, Niek Jochemus, a family friend told the Telegraph. She spent a couple of days walking and then became so weak she couldn't walk anymore and decided it was best to stay near water and hope that someone would find her soon.
Goossens was discovered on Wednesday by three hikers who were traveling along the Chillar River. They tossed her food and clothing before alerting mountain rescue who airlifted her to a nearby hospital.
Goossens herself told paramedics that she fell into the ravine on the night of June 17 and managed to squeeze herself into a side cavity where she wouldn't be in constant contact with the water, reports Fox.
Amazingly, despite her incredibly weakened condition, Goossens was able to walk from the helicopter to the hospital's emergency room.
The event highlights the need for hikers to review basic hiking safety. Goossens near-fatal mistake was that she continued hiking after she was lost. American Hiking Society recommends that those who find themselves lost stop hiking and work to backtrack their steps. Needless to say, staying on the path in the first place is also advised.
Hikers can also purchase an array of gadgets that will make a digital distress call.
Thankfully, Goossens survived her ordeal with relatively minor injuries, burns, scratches and scrapes.
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