A seasoned cave explorer was freed from the depths of an uncharted cave system in the Italian Alps for the second time in a dramatic four-day rescue.
Ottavia Piana, 32, was injured on Saturday evening while mapping a section of the cave, falling about 13 feet and sustaining multiple injuries, including to her face, ribs and knee, AP reported. Despite her injuries, she remained alert as a team of more than 120 rescuers worked to bring her to safety.
This marks the second time in 17 months that Piana has been rescued from the same cave system.
"She's speaking very little, but said she would never enter a cave again," Rino Bregani, a medic with the rescue team, told the press, as reported by The Guardian.
Video from the rescue shows Piana wrapped in blankets and strapped to a stretcher as she was passed through the cave's tight corridors.
"She's tired, exhausted and in pain," Giorgio Pannuzzo, another rescue volunteer, told the BBC. "There was a freezing wind right by the entrance [to the cave] and if we'd stopped she would have suffered even more from the cold. So we were in a rush."
Rescuers stressed that she was highly experienced and well-equipped for the dangerous expedition.
"We don't judge the people we help," Federico Catania, from the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps, told The Guardian. "We can perhaps judge some inexperienced behavior, but this was not the case."
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