A WOMAN has emerged from the darkness and into the light after choosing to spend a ridiculous 500 days in a cave – and now just wants to have a shower.
Elite athlete, mountaineer and arguably unsociable Beatriz Flamini – who ‘celebrated’ her 49th and 50th birthdays underground – has broken the world record for the longest stay in a cave alone.
During her time underground, Beatriz would have been unaware of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the death of Queen Elizabeth II or the fact that the Conservative Party have rattled through more Prime Ministers than a Bournemouth donkey gets summer rides.
Flamini is probably also unaware that a lettuce outlived one Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who lasted a woeful 49 days, less than one tenth of the time Flamini sat in total isolation, cut off from the world. If only the tables had been turned.
The cave where Beatriz resided for more than a year is situated on the Costa Tropical in Spain’s Granada Province and extends to a depth of 70 metres. It is completely devoid of natural light.
Psychologists, researchers and cave experts from the ‘Timecave’ project wanted to see what impact such isolation would have on Beatriz’s concept of time, knowing that she has no idea about the day or the events that have occurred outside.
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During her 72 weeks underground, Beatriz was blissfully unaware of inflation, having food and water provided by a team that didn’t cross paths or communicate with her.
She spent her days ploughing through 60 books, knitting woolly hats and drawing, and while that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, she called it ‘excellent, unbeatable’.
“I’m still stuck on November 21, 2021. I don’t know anything about the world. I’ve been silent for a year-and-a-half, not talking to anyone but myself,” she told reporters after emerging from the gloom.
She added: “I lose my balance, that’s why I’m being held. If you allow me to take a shower – I haven’t touched water for a year-and-a-half – I’ll see you in a little while.”
According to her team, Beatriz may now face challenges with memory, decision-making, attention, concentration, reaction time, abstraction, and reasoning abilities, and could feel slower and more erratic due to the extended period of solitude in the dark cave.
Anyone looking to replicate those symptoms without spending 500 days in a cave has been advised to spend a week at Glastonbury, or two weeks in Ibiza.
