Woman raised in jungle by monkeys left terrified after looking in mirror for first time

Woman raised in jungle by monkeys left terrified after looking in mirror for first time Marina Chapman has given a fresh interview where she opened up about being kidnapped as a four-year-old child before being raised by monkeys in a rainforest in Colombia A woman raised by monkeys was left terrified after seeing her face for the first time in a mirror. Marina was just four when she was kidnapped by trafficking gangs outside her home in Colombia before her abductors dumped her inside a rainforest. Recalling her earliest ever memory, she said it was playing with peapods, before suddenly being grabbed from behind and having her face covered. The morning after that “very horrible moment”, Marina woke up, and she recalled: “I realised it’s a forest and then I realised an animal… one monkey came, and then some more followed him, and they came closer to me and they were staring at me. I was quite upset and one of them came and start to pop my ears and they start to touch me.” The black and white capuchin primate monkeys soon became bored but they kept returning to visit her. She said they didn’t accept her right away, but they then started to climb up on her shoulders and play with her hair. She told OMG Stories Up Close in a new interview: “That was a great comfort for me because I was feeling very isolated after so many months or days. I felt very solitary and for this animal to climb over my shoulders and stay there playing with my hair. That was really comforting for me when I was waiting for people to come for me. Nobody turned up.” Incredibly, Marina, who is now in her mid-70s, ended up staying in the jungle for up to seven years, where she survived by drinking lots of water. She also ate plenty of seeds and would pick up the scraps left behind by the monkeys. And asked about whether they felt like family to her, she gave a poignant answer, where she revealed what went through her mind after discovering a mirror. She said: “I felt like I was part of them because of the hands. They behave like a human. “I was shocked when I found a piece of mirror. It was a shock of my life because I didn’t realise about my face. It was the first time I saw my face. For me, I just thought, I am not like a monkey. I felt like I was related to them. I was beginning to feel a little bit confused. I don’t think I speak any language. I think I forgot my own language because I began to recognise the noises.” Marina said the noises were how she communicated with the monkeys, explaining how a whistle meant food whereas a screech meant danger was approaching. She also said the best memory she had was simply becoming familiar with them and how the smaller ones would help remove knits and insects from her. And while they would always snatch things immediately out of her hands, meaning she had to eat quickly, she always felt compelled to keep the mirror, because it demonstrated just how different she was to them. Recalling another profound moment, she spoke about becoming sick after eating the wrong seeds, which made her stomach upset. “I was just looking at this old monkey and I was really crying out and I was feeling very desperate,” she recalled. “So he just walked towards me and he grabbed me forcefully and he pulled me into the water straight. It was a puddle of water, it wasn't very deep. He put me there and he hel me and I was just trying to push back. “I drunk so much water and I was quite sick after until I looked at his face. He was staring at me. I realised something about his eyes, he didn’t want to kill me. I just thought there was something special about when I looked at his eyes. I felt he was a good monkey. He didn't want to kill. But I felt better in my stomach after a while.” She said her big “regret” was leaving the jungle and this happened after she spotted a group of hunters. A woman’s smile encouraged her to step forward but she was soon grabbed by a man. Marina was transported to Cucuta in Colombia where she was taken to a brothel but she managed to escape. However, this led to her living rough on the streets, where she spent many nights sleeping in parks. Remarkably, she eventually came across a couple from Bradford, who took her in and raised her in the UK, after her original family was unable to be found. Marina is now married with two daughters and she also has two grandchildren. She said it was initially “very painful” trying to become human again and at first she couldn’t open doors, eat properly or use a knife, fork or spoon. “I was completely useless,” she added. Trusting people was the “most difficult” thing she grappled with but she defied expectations by becoming the woman she is today. She said: “I have two daughters. I never imagined to have children or be a mother.” Marina added that many people presumed she would never go on to live a “normal life” and she even surprised herself with how well she has done. And despite not having an education, Marina said she managed to survive by simply doing her best and being as good a human as possible, something which has served her well over the years. “Some in Colombia never thought I'd be able some people never thought I was a person to become a human that will live a normal life. They had no, I mean high aspiration about me. They never thought I would survive. I have no idea how these happen. I never had education. I just pretend to survive and trying to do the best in life to become a good human and I love it.” She said her grandson has just finished at Manchester University where he was studying filming whereas her granddaughter is in college. And concluding her powerful interview, she said: “I'm so grateful and I’m just so grateful to my daughter and my family, my grandchildren.”