Neighbours use olive-picking sheet to rescue man after more than two days trapped in Jaén

The man fought his way five kilometres along a stream bed before exhaustion left him stranded within 200 metres of the village. Neighbours were finally able to lift the 67-year-old to safety with an uncommon piece of equipment for rescues, found more commonly beneath Jaén’s olive trees. 

How a regular Thursday walk became a two-night ordeal

The resident of Arroyo del Ojanco, in Jaén province, went out for a walk on the afternoon of Thursday July 30, according to information released by the Guardia Civil. He accidentally fell into the bed of a stream several kilometres upstream from the place where he was eventually found. The steep banks and difficult terrain made it impossible for him to climb out unaided. After spending Thursday night there, he began moving along the stream bed towards the built-up area on Friday. He covered a total of approximately five kilometres while searching for somewhere accessible enough to escape.

However, contusions from the fall, growing exhaustion and the high temperatures eventually left him immobilised and unable to continue. By then, he was only around 200 metres from the edge of the village, but still trapped below terrain he couldn’t manage alone.

A passer-by heard his cries at 9pm on Saturday

Thankfully, the moment of relief came at around 9pm on Saturday August 1, when another person walking nearby heard the man calling for help. A Guardia Civil patrol from the neighbouring town of Beas de Segura was alerted and travelled to the stream where officers found the 67-year-old visibly weakened and disorientated, with multiple contusions after being more than two days out in the open.

Reaching him was only the first part of the operation though. The steep, awkward bank made a straightforward extraction impossible, so the officers turned to the residents of Arroyo del Ojanco for help.

An olive-picking tool became the key element of the rescue 

Several neighbours joined the officers to help with ropes and a large manto, a sheet or net normally spread beneath olive trees to catch the fruit during harvesting. Using the ropes and harvesting sheet, the group improvised a lifting system to bring the injured man up the bank.

Footage published by the Guardia Civil shows people unfolding the large white sheet on the rocky stream bed while others prepare to pull from above. The force described the neighbours’ contribution as “indispensable”.

🆘Rescatado un vecino de Arroyo del Ojanco (Jaén) que permaneció más de dos días atrapado en el cauce de un arroyo.
👉 La víctima de 67 años fue localizada a unos 200m del casco urbano.
👉 La colaboración vecinal imprescindible.#GuardiaCivil pic.twitter.com/JdGX68Ehj4

— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) August 2, 2026

It was a fittingly local solution in a province where olive-harvesting equipment is far easier to find than specialist rescue gear.

The man was taken to a Sierra de Segura hospital

Once out of the stream bed, the man received medical attention at the scene before being transferred to the Hospital de Alta Resolución Sierra de Segura. The Guardia Civil’s account did not disclose whether he remained in hospital or provide further details about his recovery.

After two long nights, a gruelling five kilometre trek and an unsuccessful search for a way out, seeing that an olive-collecting sheet was going to be used for the rescue was most likely not in the man’s cards. But that quick thinking from neighbours, with the help from the Guardia Civil, brought the man back to safety in the end.