SYDNEY, Jul 13 (NNN-AAP) – A German backpacker, found alive in the Australian outback, survived for 12 days by drinking rainwater from puddles and seeking shelter at night, including in a cave, authorities said.
Carolina Wilga was found by a passing member of the public, by the side of a road in remote Western Australia (WA) on Friday evening, almost two weeks after she was last sighted on Jun 29.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, WA Police Acting Inspector, Jessica Securo, said that, the 29-year-old German citizen had convinced herself that she would not survive.
“She is still in disbelief that she was able to survive,” Securo said.
Securo said that, Wilga was found about 24 km west of where police found her vehicle, on Thursday, in a nature reserve over 300 km north-west of Perth.
She was airlifted to a Perth hospital to be treated for exhaustion, dehydration, sunburn, mosquito bites and minor injuries.
Securo said that, Wilga had spent one day with her vehicle, after it suffered mechanical issues, before setting out on foot to find help, spending 11 nights in the wilderness during which she survived on minimal food she had with her, by drinking rainwater and by seeking shelter at night, including in a cave.
The local farmer who found Wilga told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that, the rescue was a miracle.– NNN-AAP
