A mum and her three-year-old daughter have been rescued after spending three days lost in the Brazilian wilderness.
Ludmila Jesus da Silva, 21, and her daughter Kyara went missing after leaving on a trip from their home in Ribeirão das Neves in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on September 9.
While passing through the rural municipality of Morada Nova de Minas, the family’s vehicle broke down while they were following a route guided by their GPS.
Firefighters later said the car broke down due to dust getting into the engine.
While waiting for help to arrive, Ludmila and Kyara got out of the car and walked towards a forest next to the road to try to get a phone signal, leaving the woman’s partner, Valter Moreira Westermann, 23, with the car.
After the pair failed to return to the vehicle, a concerned Valter looked for Ludmila and his stepdaughter and then called the emergency services when he couldn’t find them.
A search operation was launched and the missing mother and child were found by a drone three days later on 12 September.
They were both treated at hospital and discharged the following day.
After being lost for three days, Ludmila told local media that she “had to drink water from a rock” to survive.
She explained that she went to find a phone signal to call for help and continued walking for a while.
She then ran out of battery on her phone and the pair ended up lost in the wilderness.
Ludmila also said they didn’t eat anything, and that Kyara didn’t speak throughout the ordeal.
The mother added: “If it wasn't for her I would have given up.”
They were saved after a drone located their position in the woods, and rescuers carried them to a police helicopter on the banks of the Idaiá River.
The three-year-old girl complained of thirst and asked rescuers for water, according to the Civil Police.
The mother said in a video filmed in hospital after the ordeal: “Guys, I'm fine, you don't have to worry. I got lost in the woods, but they found me alive, thank God, me and my baby.”
