It's her favorite hobby, and like every Saturday, she went hiking. She walked for two hours with a group of 29 people who were participating in a route organized by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and the Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature (ATAN), and which departed from the Tenerife municipality of Erjo. They still had to cross a grotto to reach the other ravine, but they took the wrong gallery. "It was a death trap," says Ana Isabel Fernández, from Arrecife, shortly after being discharged this Tuesday after being hospitalized for three days, under observation. "We went in thinking it was the correct gallery. It was open and there was no sign of any kind. It happened to us, but it could have happened to anyone."
Ana Isabel Fernández, 37 years old, is one of the 23 survivors who last Saturday were able to get out alive from the Piedra de Los Cochinos gallery, in Los Silos, where six fellow hikers had worse luck and died trapped 2,000 meters from the entrance of the grotto due to lack of oxygen and intoxication. "They died peacefully because it is a sweet death." Among the deceased was Ginés Ramírez, 26, from Lanzarote, who coincidentally and without either of them knowing, were family. "I found out yesterday that he was my second cousin. I didn't talk to him during the excursion, because I didn't know. I have lived in Tenerife for thirteen years - where she works as a civil servant - and he is younger than me," explains Ana Isabel.
She remembers little of the critical moments she spent inside the gallery because she lost consciousness for more than ten hours, while time passed and from outside the relatives anxiously awaited the rescue of the people who were trapped inside and the emergency services were losing hope of locating people alive. "A friend who was behind me, told me: "I'm short of oxygen and I feel dizzy." I advised him to sit down and rest." That's the last thing she remembers. "I kept walking until I fainted and stayed there. My anxiety was also to find the exit." The next image was that of a firefighter to whom she signaled for help. It was early morning. She was at 1,400 meters, along with six colleagues who had also fainted and were unconscious. All were rescued alive. "It would have been fatal if I had stayed another hour."
She speaks calmly about what happened, without dramatizing, and assures that she has not lost the desire to go hiking again. She remembers it "like a movie." However, she feels that "it is a miracle to be alive." "I still haven't assimilated it, I'm not aware and it's a very strong experience." Now she has some bruises from the fall when she fainted, because "the cave was very narrow." "Was everything so fast? I don't know if we realized it and we didn't have time to react. The group was fading away." For the moment, she feels strong and assures that the people who know her are surprised by her reaction. "I hope I don't break down."
