Ottavia Piana is safe: blocked for 4 days, the speleologist was taken out of the cave at 2.59am. “The more time passed, the more tired and sore she became”

FONTENO (BERGAMO) – The speleologist from Brescia Ottavia Piana she came out of the Bueno Fonteno cave where she had been trapped last Saturday due to an accident. A helicopter is waiting for her and will probably transfer her to the hospital in Bergamo for an assessment of her health.

«The last stretch was covered faster than expected, thanks to the preventive removal of obstructions in various points of the cave and to the choice made by the doctors to avoid prolonged stops», the Alpine Rescue announced late yesterday evening that it is taking care of rescue operations.

«She felt the outside approaching»

«Now Ottavia is in good hands», underlines Giorgio Pannuzzo, speleologist and friend of Ottavia Piana. For him it is like the ideal closing of a circle: he was with her when she hurt herself on Saturday afternoon, and he was with her when she was accompanied out of the cave three hours after midnight today (Wednesday 18 December) and winched on board of the helicopter for transport to the hospital. «The more time passed the more tired and sore she became. But he felt the outside approaching”, adds Pannuzzo, before exchanging a smile with Claudio Forcella. He is the president of Progetto Sebino, involved in mapping the Bueno Fonteno cave since 2006: «I wanted to be there when she was taken to safety, I couldn’t miss it», reveals Forcella.

After four days, at 2.59 am finally out of the cave

«Ottavia is safe», Alberto Gabutti also rejoicesof the management of the national Alpine and speleological rescue team, opening the door of the mobile operations center set up in the base camp. «She left at this moment, at 2.59, finally after four days we made it. He is in stable condition, now it’s a completely different matter. She is outside and can be treated in the most appropriate way. It was a complicated operation but it paid off.” Satisfied with the outcome of the operation – that employed almost 120 technicians with shifts divided into 15 hours and a constant presence of at least 20 technicians in the cave – also Corrado Camerini, doctor and delegate of the Alpine Speleological Rescue of Lombardy: «Everything went well, the recovery was very long because the cave and clinical conditions required it. Ottavia tolerated the transport very well, which took place regularly without too many unexpected events despite the many difficulties. We were effective.” As for the time spent: «It was a job well done. Even if the rough analysis might make you think that it took us a lot of days – concludes Camerini – in reality they were exactly what was needed”.

The last mile of the hike back up was quick

«After exiting the tunnels, she was moved onto a more suitable stretcher and pulled up with a winch. A rapid evaluation will be made and she will likely be transferred to traumatology», anticipated the doctor Corrado Camerini, delegate of the Lombard Speleological Rescue and the person responsible for the intervention.
Yesterday the firefighters of the river speleo unit of the Bergamo command had taken steps to clear the helicopter’s descent area, securing the path that led to the pitch where an ambulance would arrive in the event that the helicopter took off it had not been possible. The last mile of the ascent route was therefore covered quickly. Already in the afternoon the stretcher had passed the halfway point of the journey, missing about one kilometer from the exit (of the four total).

Ottavia has trauma and probable fractures, but there are no emergencies

«We must always keep in mind that Ottavia has traumas and probable fractures in various parts of her body, legs, chest, face, which have caused an inevitable slowdown in operations. At the moment, however, there are no emergencies”, added Camerini. It must also be said that the diagnoses made so far on the health of the thirty-two year old from Brescia are based on an approximation. «It is clear that the diagnostics that can be done in the cave are not those of a hospital CT scan or MRI». As for nutrition «we used supplements, energy gels that cyclists and marathon runners normally use. The advantage is that they provide calories and mineral salts without overloading the stomach.” There are doctors and there are technicians.

During a meeting at the Prefecture in Bergamo, all the institutional components of the rescue effort took stock of the recovery activity. “The impervious passages must be made wider even with explosive charges,” explained the Prefect in a note. «We did it a few dozen times – said Felice La Rocca known as Fochino, 68 years old, a destroyer for the Alpine Rescue Service -. The rock was evaluated, the cave winds and the fine dust that could end up on people were considered.”

The investigative queue

Finally an investigative queue. The carabinieri of the Clusone company intend to reconstruct the entire story. In agreement with the Bergamo Prosecutor’s Office, they will carry out safety checks to verify whether all the required precautions have been respected, also considering that this is the second accident in a year and a half. The ten speleologist friends who descended into the cave that day will be heard. Octavia included.

December 18, 2024 (changed December 18, 2024 | 07:53)

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