London, Aug 3 (IANS): A Belgian woman, who injured her spine after an accident in a remote area, spent six days trapped in the vehicle amid a unprecedented heatwave before she was found by rescuers, reports said.

Corine Bastide, 45, said that she had no strength to even respond to her phone and survived by drinking rainwater she managed to collect in a box that had once held chewing gum.

Bastide, whose car went into a ditch in Liege area on July 23, told a Belgian TV channel that she would fall unconscious every time she moved her hands and didn't even have strength enough to lift herself up from the glass pieces piercing her back, reported BBC.

She was finally found on Monday after her family raised the alarm and police issued a missing persons alert.

"The first night, my mobile didn't stop ringing. I tried to answer it but I couldn't because my arm was too sore. The next day, it stopped ringing," Bastide said.

"The most difficult thing was lying on pieces of glass. I tried to hoist myself up but I had the impression that my back was being torn."

There was no food or drink in her car, so when it began to rain following the heatwave, she collected rainwater to drink in the empty chewing gum box.

"I also used a wet branch to create the sensation of moisture in my mouth. But I didn't feel hungry, " she added.

When a car stopped near the roundabout where she went off the road, she cried out for help and was rescued. The mother of her son's friend was among her rescuers.

"She told me she had been looking for me everywhere. She stayed with me all the time and that woman, I think she is my guardian angel," Bastide said.

Saying she was lucky to be alive, she said she never lost hope because she kept thinking of her children, and doing all the things she had planned with them.