Davide Cesaroni, 41, and his wife Chiara Pesaresi, 38, became lost on July 1 while undertaking a planned circular hike in the Dolomites, a popular mountain range in northern Italy. Despite initially easy-to-follow trail markers, they lost their way on the Marini Trail, which passes through a dense forest.
Initially hoping to find their way back in the morning, they spent their first night sleeping among the trees. Over the next six days, the couple constructed a shelter from branches and drank their own urine to stay hydrated before finding a stream with clean water on the fourth day. For sustenance, they foraged for berries.
Meanwhile, Mr. Cesaroni's unanswered messages prompted his father to raise the alarm, leading mountain rescue services and firefighters to launch a search. The couple's car was found unattended near a mountain hut in Pordenone.
On the fourth day of the search, the couple heard a helicopter but were not spotted. The following day, a rescue team was deployed to the Marini Trail. On the sixth day, after hearing a helicopter land nearby, Mr. Cesaroni went towards the sound. Rescue personnel located the pair, confirming their safety. "When the rescuers saw me, they asked if I was Davide from Ancona. We were safe," he told il Resto del Carlino.