A 77-year-old French cyclist has been rescued after surviving three days at the bottom of a ravine by drinking bottles of red wine he had just purchased from the supermarket.
The pensioner plummeted 40 metres down a steep, rocky slope in the Cévennes region of southern France last week after missing a bend on his bicycle while riding home from a shopping trip. Remarkably, the wine bottles in his shopping bag survived the fall unbroken, providing his only sustenance during the ordeal.
The incident has drawn comparisons to a similar survival story from Victoria, where a woman endured five days stranded in bushland in 2023 with only lollipops and wine to keep her alive.
The French cyclist was travelling along the RN106 from La Grand-Combe to his home in Saint-Julien-des-Points when disaster struck. After missing the turn, he tumbled down the slope and landed in the Gardon riverbed below, his bicycle crumpled beside him.
Unable to climb out of the ravine, the man shouted for help whenever he heard vehicles passing on the road above. But his cries went unheard for three long days and nights in the cold and damp conditions of the mountainous region.
With no other option, he carefully rationed the bottles of red wine from his shopping bag, along with small amounts of food that had also survived the fall. Despite multiple attempts to scramble back up the slope, each effort ended with him falling back into the stream, increasing his risk of hypothermia.
His rescue finally came on Tuesday afternoon when road maintenance workers from the Interdepartmental Roads Directorate heard his weakened calls for help. Spotting his mangled bicycle, they quickly located the exhausted but conscious cyclist and alerted emergency services.
Firefighters attended the scene, and the man was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in nearby Alès. Medical staff found he had sustained only minor injuries and mild hypothermia, despite spending three days exposed to the elements.
Dr Laurent Savath, chief medical officer of the Hérault fire department, described the man’s survival as “a miracle”. “In the cold and damp, with almost no food or water, he’s incredibly resilient,” Dr Savath said. “He is really tough. He fell into a stream several times trying to scramble back up, so was at risk of hypothermia.”
While wine is not typically recommended for survival situations due to its dehydrating effects, the bottles provided crucial calories and some liquid to sustain the cyclist during his ordeal. Medical experts note that staying put and conserving energy, rather than attempting to walk out, likely contributed significantly to his survival.
The incident bears striking similarities to an Australian survival story from May 2023, when Lillian Ip spent five days stranded in Victorian bushland after her car became bogged in mud near Dartmouth Dam.
Ms Ip, a 48-year-old Melbourne woman who doesn’t drink alcohol, survived on lollipops and a bottle of wine she had purchased as a gift for her mother. Like the French cyclist, she made the critical decision to stay with her vehicle rather than attempting to walk through unfamiliar terrain.
She was eventually spotted by a Victoria Police helicopter conducting sweeps of the Mitta Mitta bushland, some 60 kilometres from the nearest town. Police praised her decision to remain with her car, which made her significantly easier to locate.
Wodonga Police Station Sergeant Martin Torpey said at the time: “She used great common sense to stay with her car and not wander off into bushland, which assisted in police being able to find her.”
Both survivors have since made full recoveries from their ordeals. The French cyclist has been discharged from hospital, while Ms Ip was treated for dehydration following her rescue.
The two incidents highlight an unusual pattern in survival stories, where items purchased for entirely different purposes become unexpected lifelines in emergency situations. They also underscore the importance of staying in one location when stranded, making it easier for rescue teams to locate missing persons.
