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A backpacker survived nearly two weeks lost in Western Australia’s outback by drinking from puddles and sleeping in a cave, police have said. <\/p>\n
Carolina Wilga, 26, from Germany, was rescued on Friday. She had suffered from exhaustion, dehydration, “extensive insect bites” and an injured foot, according to police. <\/p>\n
Officers said she walked 24km (15 miles) away from her van in a “confused and disorientated” state after it became stuck in remote bushland. <\/p>\n
Ms Wilga had convinced herself she was not going to be found, police said, adding that the backpacker’s family was relieved and thankful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“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 Western Australia police statement said.<\/p>\n
The rescue was down to “sheer luck”, acting police inspector Jessica Securo said in a news conference. <\/p>\n
Ms Wilga was spotted by a driver and airlifted to a hospital in Perth. <\/p>\n
Tania Henley, the driver, told Australia’s public broadcaster ABC that she saw Ms Wilga waving her hands by the side of the road, and she appeared to be in a “fragile state”. <\/p>\n
“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 said.<\/p>\n
Before her rescue, Ms Wilga was last seen at a general store in the town of Beacon, Western Australia, in her van on 29 June.<\/p>\n
Police found her abandoned van on Thursday in dense bushland north of Beacon.<\/p>\n
Securo said it appeared Ms Wilga had lost control of the vehicle, which became mechanically unsound and bogged.<\/p>\n
Ms Wilga has had a “good night’s sleep” in hospital and is “just taking it one day at a time”, Securo said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n