A Spanish athlete saw the sun for the first time in a year-and-a-half after spending more than 500 days in an underground cave.
Mountain climber Beatriz Famini, who was 48 years-old when she entered the cave on November 21, 2021 and 50 when she emerged on Friday, had volunteered for the seclusion as part of an effort to explore the effects of isolation.
"I was expecting to come out and have a shower," Famini told a room full of reporters, per The Guardian. "I wasn't expecting there to be so much interest."
While she was living in the cave, which is located 230 feet underground just outside of Granada in southern Spain, she knitted, exercised, drew pictures and read 60 books.
"I got on very well with myself," she said. "I was where I wanted to be, and so I dedicated myself to it."
In fact, Flamini says the time went by so quickly, she easily could have stayed underground longer. She had no way of tracking the time and said it perpetually felt like it was 4 a.m.
"I was sleeping — or at least dozing — when they came down to get me," Flamini said, per The Guardian. "I thought something had happened. I said, 'Already? No way.' I hadn't finished my book. I didn't want to come out."
According to Spanish state news agency EFE, Flamini was forced to temporarily exit the cave for a week about 300 days in due to a technical problem. But even then, she was isolated in a tent and had no contact with anyone before going back down into the cave.
The purpose of the experiment was to learn more about how the human mind and body can deal with extreme solitude and deprivation, according to The Guardian. Flamini was in total isolation with no knowledge of what was happening in the outside world. She was monitored by a team of researchers who evaluated her physical and mental condition remotely by watching videos she self-recorded, Smithsonian Magazine reported. The footage she shot is also being turned into a documentary about the experiment -- known as the Timecave project.
"It's true that there were some difficult moments, but there were also some very beautiful moments," Flamini told The Guardian. "And I had both as I lived up to my commitment to living in a cave for 500 days."
Guinness World Records is reportedly now evaluating if Flamini set a record for the longest duration spent in a cave.
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