A German backpacker who endured 11 nights alone in the Australian outback has shared how she became disoriented and lost after crashing her vehicle, reports RTE.
Carolina Wilga, 26, was located late last week on a rarely used track in Western Australia, several kilometres from her car, after disappearing in isolated bushland. Police said she was fortunate to be alive.
Authorities discovered her empty van stuck in thick bushland north of Beacon, with orange plastic traction boards placed under its back wheels, reports RTE.
“Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there,” Ms Wilga said in a statement issued through Western Australia Police. The answer is: I lost control of the car and rolled down a slope. In the crash, I hit my head significantly. As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost,” she said, reports RTE.
Ms Wilga expressed her gratitude to those involved in her rescue.
“The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments,” she said, reports RTE.
“For this, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Ms Wilga added, reports RTE.
Weak from hunger and thirst, and covered in insect bites, Ms Wilga was flown to a hospital in Perth for medical treatment after being found on Friday.
Police reported that the backpacker had lost hope of 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,” Western Australia police said last week. “She sought shelter at night where possible, including in a cave,” reports RTE.
Police said Ms Wilga was suffering from extreme fatigue, dehydration, sunburn, “extensive insect bites”, and an injured foot.
Tania Henley, the driver who spotted her, told ABC that she saw Ms Wilga signaling with her hands at the side of the road.
She seemed to be in a “fragile state”, bitten by insects and affected by the cold, r r
“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, reports RTE.
The last confirmed sighting of Ms Wilga before her rescue was on 29 June, when she arrived in the van at a general store in Beacon.
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