Beatrice Flamini, an athlete from Spain, came out of a cave after 500 days without contact with people, which may be a world record, reports BBC.

Beatrice Flamini emerges from the cave after 500 daysPhoto: JORGE GUERRERO / AFP / Profimedia

When Beatrice Flamini entered the cave in Granada, Russia did not invade Ukraine and the world faced the Covid pandemic.

It was part of an experiment that was closely watched by scientists.

“I’m still stuck on November 21, 2021. I don’t know anything about the world,” she said after leaving the cave.

Flamini, 50 years old, entered the cave at the age of 48. He spent time in a cave 70 meters deep, doing sports, drawing and knitting woolen caps. According to her support team, she read 60 books and used 1,000 liters of water.

She was watched by a group of psychologists, researchers, speleologists – specialists in the study of caves – but none of the experts came into contact with her.

In a video by Spanish broadcaster TVE, she can be seen emerging from the cave with a smile before hugging her team.

“Excellent” experience

Speaking shortly afterwards, she described her experience as “wonderful, unparalleled”.

“I was expecting to go out and take a shower,” she told a room full of reporters. “I didn’t expect there to be so much interest.”

“I was silent for a year and a half, I didn’t talk to anyone but myself,” she said when reporters pressed her for details.

“I lose my balance, that’s why they support me. If you let me take a shower – I haven’t touched water for a year and a half – I’ll see you soon. Is that good for you?”

After 160 days, he lost track of time and started having “auditory hallucinations”.

Flamini later told reporters that he lost track of time after about two months.

“There was a point where I had to stop counting the days,” she said, adding that she estimated she had been in the cave “between 160 and 170 days.”

According to her, one of the most difficult times came when flies began to invade inside the cave, which covered it.

The athlete spoke about “auditory hallucinations”.

“You are silent, and the brain invents,” she said.

Experts used her time in isolation to investigate the effects of social isolation and extreme temporal disorientation on people’s perception of time.

The previous record holders for the longest survival time underground were 33 miners who spent 69 days 688 meters underground after a copper-gold mine collapse in Chile in 2010.