Cyclist kept alive by red wine following ravine fall

A man who was trapped at the bottom of a valley in southern France for three days has been called a miraculous survivor, surviving with little more than a shopping bag and bottles of red wine.

The unidentified 77-year-old pensioner had set out to do some shopping in La Grand-Combe in the Gard region and was cycling towards Saint-Julien-des-Points when he missed a bend on the RN106 road and plunged down a 40-metre steep embankment into the Gardon River bed.

His bike had been crushed in the fall and, unable to get out of the valley, the man spent three nights desperately searching for help when he heard cars passing overhead. Nobody heard him.

Exposed to the cold and damp, the man survived by rationing the contents of his shopping bag – food and a few bottles of wine that miraculously remained intact in the autumn.

Rescuers finally found him on Tuesday afternoon, when road workers at the regional highways department heard faint cries for help and spotted the wrecked bike below.

Emergency services were called immediately and firefighters from Sdis 34, with the help of a civil security helicopter, took the exhausted man to Alès Hospital for treatment.

Chief medical officer of the Hérault fire brigade, Dr. Laurent Savath said: “He is a miracle.

“It proved to be extraordinarily hardy in the cold and damp environment with almost nothing to eat or drink.”

Although the cyclist fell into the water several times while trying to get out, he escaped with minor injuries and mild hypothermia.

His survival after three days alone in the wilderness, suspended between luck and determination, was described by rescuers as nothing short of remarkable.