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Hiker Found in Australia After 12 Days

CNN

posted: 11 HOURS 41 MINUTES AGO

comments: 44

filed under: Survival Stories, World News

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(July 15) -- A British backpacker has been rescued after spending nearly two weeks missing in the mountains of eastern Australia, authorities said Wednesday.

Jamie Neale, 19, was last seen July 3 after leaving his youth hostel in Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. Two hikers found Neale near a trail outside of Katoomba, police said.

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New South Wales Police said Neale was taken to Katoomba's Blue Mountains Hospital suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.

His father said Neale ate seeds and weeds to stay alive, but was starting to give up hope that he would survive.

"He was kind of losing faith in the idea that there was a God every time that helicopter flew over and he waved and shouted and nothing happened," Richard Cass told reporters. "He did think he was going to die. He was that scared."

Cass said he also started to lose hope that his son would be found alive. He said he even held a private ceremony in the mountains to say goodbye, burning a candle and burying a red rose to mark Neale's English heritage.

Cass was already in Australia, having flown from Britain to help search for his son. He was about to board a plane back to Britain on Wednesday when he got the call that his son had been rescued.

"I heard the news and I gave a great shout, 'My boy's been found!'" he said. "It was great."

Neale has scratches and looks a bit gaunt, but is otherwise doing well, his father said. Video of Neale recovering later in Katoomba Hospital showed him alert and smiling occasionally at his father.

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There, his father stood over his son's bed and jokingly chided him about his lack of preparation.

"This is how to get lost in the bush: Leave your phone behind, don't tell anyone, don't phone anyone, don't sign the bush register, wear dark clothing. I mean, Jesus Christ, Jamie," his father said with a smile. "Oh, and if you've got a space blanket, leave it behind in Perth."

The Blue Mountains are a densely wooded landscape popular with tourists and hikers. They cover 965,000 square miles, and walking trails alone stretch more than 155 miles, according to Inspector Carl Clark of the New South Wales police.

The terrain is so rough and remote that search teams had to be sent in by helicopter some days, Clark said.

"It's just such a wilderness that it's a fantastic effort to survive a few days, let alone 12 days, in that sort of environment," Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said.

That wilderness is on the doorstep of the hostel in Katoomba where Neale stayed before he disappeared, Janet McGarry of the Youth Hostel Association told Sydney radio station 2GB.

2009-07-15 07:05:29

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CARMPENCE

07:28 PMJul 15 2009

they should charge the idiot for rescuing him. i'm glad he's alive but these people who get lost in the woods, in the mountains, etc...should be charged for the rescue effort.

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TBIBVEE

06:39 PMJul 15 2009

Maybe the father had something pressing back home, but it seems odd that he gave up within 2 weeks....I guess the place is really bad .... but still, two weeks ?

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FerAndr4

06:34 PMJul 15 2009

what's the real story ???

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Pal Of The World

06:22 PMJul 15 2009

He's damn lucky a dingo didn't eat him mate.

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yourmom1922

06:12 PMJul 15 2009

Dumb white people are always getting lost in the woods.

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AnnEdyth

06:05 PMJul 15 2009

I wonder what things DID he have with him? And What kind of weeds and seeds.

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SATCHEL0805

05:47 PMJul 15 2009

No matches?

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GShort3011

05:14 PMJul 15 2009

That aint nothing, I was once lost in Dallas Texas for over two weeks.

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Nailager69

05:08 PMJul 15 2009

the new age of stupidity, throw away your gps and cell phone and learn how to read a map and use a compass. Have your boys join the boy scouts of america to learn these skills. You dont have to worry too much about leadership because they dont want or knowingly have gayboys for leaders. If you are lucky the boy scout troop will teach your kid the best skill of all, shooting.

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MontanaLonewolf

04:50 PMJul 15 2009

Anyone who can't take a hike or backpacking trip without a phone or communications device and/or without leaving a travel itinery with everyone on the planet and still come out of the woods should stay home.

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