REAL LIFE
Vanessa Forero’s mum Marina was always very different from other parents, and there was an extraordinary reason why…
When Vanessa Forero asked her mum, Marina, about her childhood, the story she told her daughter sounded like something out of a Hollywood film.
Born in Colombia during a brutal civil war in the 1950s, Marina was kidnapped when she was almost five and dumped in a jungle. Left to fend for herself, incredibly the little girl was taken in by a family of monkeys, with whom she spent seven years before being discovered by hunters.
Marina’s story has been published in a book about her life, with the help of Vanessa, who travelled to Colombia with her to piece together her extraordinary life.
Vanessa, 40, says, “I’m so proud of my mum. She’s had an incredible life and I hope her resilience inspires others.”
FORAGING FOR FOOD
As Vanessa grew up, she became increasingly aware that her mum was different to other people’s parents.
She says, “My sister and I really wanted a pet rabbit and one day we were driving across the Yorkshire Dales when Mum suddenly shouted to Dad, ‘Stop the car!’ Then she jumped out, leapt over a fence, and returned with a wild rabbit. We called him Flopsy, but he was so wild we had to release him!
“She was strong and muscular and would climb trees if we went to a park.”
Singer Vanessa says her mum would often tell her family snippets about her incredible childhood around the dinner table.
She says, “Mum was born in the early 50s while Colombia was enduring a time of huge political unrest, killings and kidnappings. Her first memory is picking pea pods in a garden when a man suddenly appeared and put a white hanky over her face. She woke up on a bus before being dumped in the jungle. She remembers spending days alone until she encountered a family of monkeys.”
Marina says that the monkeys eventually accepted her so she stayed with them.
Vanessa explains, “Mum thinks because she had thick, dark hair and was very skinny, the monkeys thought she was one of them. The thing Mum craved was touch, so when a monkey put its hand on her shoulder, she said it was more nourishing than food.”
Marina – who survived primarily on fruit – continued to live among the monkeys, spending her time foraging for food and allowing her new family to groom her long hair.
Vanessa says, “One day Mum must have eaten a seedpod because, after falling ill, an elder monkey grabbed her and pushed her head under some water. When she reappeared gasping, she was violently sick, which made her feel better. She is convinced the monkey saved her life.”
ADOPTED
Incredibly, Ma
