WINNIPEG - Nadia Monaco may have lost her sense of direction but she didn't lose her sense of humour after spending almost 48 cold, wet hours alone in a Manitoba forest.
The retired grandmother knew the gravity of the situation but cracked a few jokes to make light of it and was in good spirits when she was rescued from Belair Provincial Forest, northeast of Winnipeg, on Friday, officials say.
This, after getting lost and surviving two days in the bush by drinking water from streams or swamps, eating wild mushrooms and berries, and seeking shelter under trees and at an abandoned farmstead, authorities said.
"It's a relief. Thank God," said Bart Monaco, her former brother-in-law.
There was serious concern for her well-being because she is diabetic and needs insulin, and she wasn't dressed to spend a long time in the dense forest.
Monaco, 66, was picking mushrooms north of Stead, about 90 km northeast of Winnipeg, when she became separated from a group of relatives and got lost Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
She has picked mushrooms in the forest before, said Manitoba fire commissioner Chris Jones.
She was located by a team of volunteers on Friday at 8 a.m., about half a kilometre from where she was last seen.
In vehicles, the group stopped at a trail to search a predetermined area when it heard the woman yell.
"She hollered a strong, 'Help,'" said Ken Falk, deputy chief of the RM of Siglunes' fire department. "I guess you could say it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time."
Falk and the others found a cold, wet, hungry and dehydrated Monaco on the trail.
The group helped her to a vehicle, wrapped her in blankets and cranked the heat to warm her.
"She said, 'I was praying and praying for two days," Falk said.
Monaco had an emotional, tear-filled reunion with her common-law husband and son.
"It was a great scene," said Sgt. Rob Thorarinson of the RCMP search and rescue team.
He said Monaco was in fairly good mental and physical shape, and offered a few lighter moments, including a crack about picking mushrooms in the future.
She was taken to Beausejour Hospital. She declined an interview request.
The woman, wearing a light shirt, pants and rubber boots, spent two days walking until she found the trail, Jones said.
She spent her first night outdoors, using paper she found to ward off the rain. The second night was spent in an old farm outbuilding, which was checked three times, Jones said.
"She amazingly survived very well in the bush by herself," he said.
He said a lost person should stay put and wait to be rescued but Monaco kept warm by moving around.
Her disappearance sparked a massive search by ground and air, involving up to 100 people daily.
Falk said Monaco heard a rescue helicopter.
