After being reported missing on June 22, a TV journalist found Nicola Tanturli, a two year old, on June 23. The child had fallen into a ravine in the isolated countryside of Palazzuolo sul Senio, high in the Apennine mountains in the Mugello valley, six kilometers (3.7mi) from home.
His mother had put him to bed in a farmhouse on Monday evening, but when she and her husband checked later, he was gone. After searching for hours, she finally called the police, who activated a massive hunt for the boy.
The journalist involved, Giuseppe Di Tommaso of the RaiUno program “La Vita in Diretta, who had fallen behind his camera crew, stopped his car for a breath of air and started calling louder and louder “Nicola, Nicola.” The boy responded with “Mama!” Di Tommaso flagged down a police car that was passing by, and although the carabinieri were sceptical, believing that the sound came from a fawn or other animal, they decided to investigate. The commander of the Scarperia police station finally went down the ravine 25 meters (83 ft.) to find the child at the bottom, and returned to the surface with him in his arms, helped by the journalist.
Reunited with his mother, they were both transported via helicopter to Florence’s Meyer Children’s Hospital. Nicola only had cuts and bruises and is doing well.
To read more in Italian, see photos and a video, visit Florence’s La Repubblica news site.
