An woman who was trapped in her car for six days during the European heatwave survived by catching rainwater in a discarded chewing gum box in the bouts of rain that followed.

Corine Bastide, 45, had been travelling through Liege, Belgium, when her car swerved into a ditch in remote woodland.

She remained conscious but suffered severe spine injuries during the accident and was unable to get out of the car.

Corine Bastide, 45, was trapped in her car for six days after she swerved into a ditch in a remote woodland area during the European heatwave

Ms Bastide crashed on July 23 and said that she thought that no one would ever find her in the 'terrifying heat'.

Temperatures in the area had peaked just a few days before at 41.7C (107.06F).

Speaking from her hospital bed, she said that her mobile phone did not stop ringing on the first night with calls from concerned family and friends but that she could not reach it because of her injuries.

The next day she said it stopped ringing altogether because her battery had died.

She said: 'I tried screaming when I heard people but apparently no one could hear me.'

She remained conscious but suffered a spine injury which left her unable to get out of the vehicle. She said that she feared 'no one would ever find her'

The heatwave eventually broke a few days after her initial crash and was followed by bouts of rain.

Ms Bastide managed to open the car door with her foot and use the limited resources around her to to collect water.

'I tried to drink by filling up a little chewing gum box,' she said, adding that she also sucked on a wet tree branch to keep her mouth moist.

Her family contacted the police and opened a missing persons case.

There was some indication of where she might have been because she was seen at a nearby service station in Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse just a few hours before she disappeared.

Her last smartphone signal had also registered shortly before the accident.

Ms Bastide was found in her car after six days by a search party. She has hailed the unnamed woman who found her as her 'guardian angel'.

She added that she never lost hope throughout the ordeal but that she was lucky to be alive.

Speaking to local broadcaster RTBF, she said: 'It was imperative that I got out of this situation so I could do all of the things I had planned to do with my children.

'I didn't want them to think I had done something stupid, like kill myself.

'No, it was an accident.

'It was they who gave me the strength to carry on.'

Her son said that his mother would have to undergo surgery and would be in hospital for several week.