Freddy Fernández and Davide Ansaldi are cave-diving companions of Miquel Perelló, who on Sunday disappeared in the Sa Gleda cave in Manacor. Davide had been in a different part of the cave on Sunday. He had left the cave and was waiting for the two others - Miquel and Xisco Gràcia. When Xisco emerged, he said that Miquel had disappeared.
In 2017, Freddy and another diver were the first to reach Xisco after he had been trapped in the Sa Piqueta cave for some 60 hours. With that experience in mind, Freddy and some other members of the speleology federation and society in the Balearics went to the scene to offer their services.
The rescue operation was launched around 4.30pm. The initial plan was to wait for a specialist team of Guardia Civil divers who were coming from Madrid. But Miquel's friends, with great experience of caving, were ready to go and find him. Freddy explains that without authorisation they couldn't do this. However, they had the necessary equipment and knew that if Miquel was still alive, there was only one part of the cave where he could survive. After a long discussion, it was agreed that two volunteers should start the search - Freddy and Davide.
After 45 minutes of diving, they reached the area where Xisco had lost sight of Miquel. When they saw a light, they realised that they had found him. He was really calm and asked the two: "What happened? I've been here for seven hours. What took you so long?"
As Miquel was fine and they had the necessary means, the three left the cave together. Miquel was later taken to Manacor Hospital for tests, as these are established procedure. He was safe and well and it was Freddy and Davide who had found him.