CANBERRA, Australia — A backpacker has miraculously survived nearly two weeks after becoming lost in Western Australia’s remote outback, subsisting on puddle water and seeking shelter in a cave, according to police reports.
Carolina Wilga, 26, from Germany, was successfully rescued on Friday. Authorities confirmed she was suffering from exhaustion, severe dehydration, “extensive insect bites,” and an injured foot upon her discovery.
Police indicated that Ms. Wilga had walked approximately 24 kilometers (15 miles) from her van in a “confused and disorientated” state after the vehicle became stuck in dense bushland.
Officers noted that the backpacker had convinced herself she would not be found, and her family expressed immense relief and gratitude following her rescue.
“She spent 11 nights exposed to the elements and survived by consuming the minimal food supplies she had in her possession, and drinking water from rain and puddles,” a statement from Western Australia police detailed.
Acting Police Inspector Jessica Securo described the rescue as a result of “sheer luck” during a news conference. Ms. Wilga was spotted by a passing driver and subsequently airlifted to a hospital in Perth.
Tania Henley, the driver who discovered Ms. Wilga, recounted to Australia’s public broadcaster ABC that she saw the backpacker waving her hands by the roadside, appearing to be in a “fragile state.”
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“Everything in this bush is very prickly. I just can’t believe that she survived. She had no shoes on, she’d wrapped her foot up,” Ms. Henley remarked.
Prior to her rescue, Ms. Wilga was last seen on June 29th at a general store in the Western Australian town of Beacon, driving her van. Police located her abandoned vehicle on Thursday in dense bushland situated north of Beacon.
Inspector Securo stated that it appeared Ms. Wilga had lost control of the vehicle, which then became mechanically unsound and bogged down.
Ms. Wilga is reported to have had a “good night’s sleep” in the hospital and is now “just taking it one day at a time,” according to Inspector Securo.
