A female doctor who spent almost 30 hours waiting for help after plunging into a ravine while swerving to avoid a dog was incredibly found alive by firefighters lying alongside an image of St George.

Mariana Fossati, 30, always carries the image of St George with her on her travels and it was even beside her seemingly offering protection as she lay critically injured after a serious car accident would she amazingly survived.

She was missing for some 29 hours before being found in the ravine alongside the BR-470 motorway between the Brazilian municipalities of Curitibanos and Taio on the morning of 19th April.

She was taken to hospital in Curitibanos and was finally discharged on 27th April. She is currently taking medication at home and is said to be recovering well from her injuries.

Mariana went missing after leaving her home in Curitibanos on her way to Taio at around 5 am on 18th April. Friends and family started to look for her when she failed to show up at hospital for work.

A passing motorist informed search teams looking for the woman that he had seen a car amongst vegetation on the morning of 19th April.

An injured and famished but conscious Mariana was eventually found lying on the ground close to her car.

She later told relatives that she lost control of the car’s steering when a dog ran out in front of the vehicle.

Her car then veered off the road and into the ravine.

Given the lack of mobile phone signal in the area, she was unable to call for help or access the internet. She also found herself unable to walk back to the motorway, given the steep climb that she would need to undertake to escape because of injuries.

Firefighters who came to Mariana’s rescue remains that she had survived and even more surprised when they found the laminated playing-card-sized image of Saint George close to the doctor and her crashed vehicle.

One of the most popular saints in Brazil, Mariana always kept the depiction of the saint with her in the car to look after her.

In hospital, Mariana had to undergo an operation to remove her spleen, and she ended up being admitted to intensive care, but recovered and was later released into the care of her family.

Her car was completely wrecked in the accident.

After her discharge from hospital, her mother, Jucenara dos Santos, commented: “She’s very happy, and so am I.”