A schoolteacher has survived on chocolates from her students for eight days after falling into a ravine and breaking both legs.
Gloria María Machuca Chincha has spent the last year working at a primary school in a rural town.
The 55-year-old was walking home along a mountain track when she slipped and fell over 50ft into the ravine.
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The teacher spent the first 24 hours unconscious before managing to drag herself to a river to quench her thirst.
She spent over a week surviving in the mountains in Huaura, Peru.
She told rescuers that all she had to eat for eight days was some chocolates and cheese gifted to her by her students.
She had left her school in Ámbar, located about six hours from the city of Huacho.
Her family launched a search operation when Gloria failed to respond to their calls.
Daughter, Lucero Cernaqué and her father left Lima to head to Ámbar to file a missing persons report at the police station.
The local authorities found Gloria on 7 April after hearing her screams from the undergrowth.
They had to descend down the cliff face to reach her position.
On the way, they found a cutting board with a handwritten SOS on it.
The makeshift sign read: “Help, I came down from Fundo Paracas campus, I fell and got lost.
“Yesterday I slept in the mountains, please, whoever reads this, come help me or notify the authorities so they can rescue me.
“I can’t walk and no one passes by here, I’m tired of shouting, but no one can hear me. Gloria Machuca.”
The teacher was severely dehydrated and unable to move due to her broken legs, several broken ribs, and bruising all over her body.
Gloria was loaded onto a stretcher and taken to a health centre in Ámbar where she was met by cheering locals.
She was then transported to the Hospital Gustavo II Lanatta Luján in Huacho for further treatment.
After being rescued, Gloria’s health condition has stabilised and she is expected to make a full recovery.
She thanked the rescue team for finding her and promised her students that she would return to work as soon as she is able to, as reported by Need To Know.
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