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Outlook: My 500 days alone in a cave

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Beatriz Flamini

15/06/2023 GMT

My 500 days alone in a cave

BBC World Service - Outlook, My 500 days alone in a cave

Beatriz Flamini took part in an experiment into the effects of extreme isolation

Extreme athlete Beatriz Flamini was taking part in an experiment to measure the effects of extreme isolation on mind and body.

In April, Beatriz Flamini, an extreme athlete from Spain, emerged from a cave, 70m below the ground, where she'd spent over 500 days alone in the dark. This was part of an experiment to measure the effects of extreme isolation and time disorientation on mind and body. Beatriz had no time devices with her and, without natural light, had no way of knowing when a day began or ended. Surprisingly, she says the hardest part for her was the moment she was told that the time was up. She spoke to Andrea Kennedy just a month after she'd emerged from the cave.

It’s South Africa’s most iconic photograph – a dying 12-year-old school boy, Hector Pieterson, being carried away after he was shot by police during the 1976 Soweto Uprisings. The picture – taken by journalist Sam Nzima – exposed the horrors of apartheid to the world, and it also had a lasting impact on the lives of all those it captured. Reporter Gavin Fischer follows the incredible stories of the people affected by the photo – both in front of and behind the camera. This story was first broadcast on 22 September, 2018.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Beatriz Flamini emerging from the cave in Los Gauchos, Spain on April 14 2023. Credit: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via Getty Images)

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