Carolina Wilga spent 11 freezing nights lost in the Western Australian outback, convinced she would never be found.
By “sheer luck” the confused and disoriented German backpacker came across a road, where she flagged down a woman in a passing car on Friday afternoon.
An “exhausted, dehydrated and hungry” Wilga has spoken to her family, had a good night’s sleep, a shower and some food, WA police Acting Det Insp Jessica Securo said on Saturday.
“This is the best result we could have hoped for,” she said.
“We’re incredibly grateful that she’s been found safe, and obviously this is a huge relief for her family and all of her loved ones.
“We never gave up hope that Carolina would be found safe and well … the support of our WA community is our greatest asset, particularly in a state as vast as ours.
“It’s sheer luck. The area out there is mixed terrain. It can be quite dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing or where you’re going, and it’s very easy to get lost.”
Police confirmed on Friday night that Wilga, 26, had been found “safe and well”. She had been “ravaged” by mosquitoes, was dehydrated, exhausted, starving and had minor injuries including cuts and bruises, and was airlifted to Fiona Stanley hospital in Perth.
The temperature in the area had dropped down to 0C at night and there was heavy rain.
On 29 June, Wilga had visited a shop in Beacon, a small town about 300km north-east of Perth in WA. Her family and friends had not heard from her since and raised the alarm.
Police and volunteers started searching the remote wheatbelt area and beyond.
Wilga’s Mitsubishi van was found bogged and abandoned in Karroun Hill, about 150km from Beacon, on Thursday. Securo said Wilga had “somewhat lost control of the vehicle”, which had then become “mechanically unsound and bogged”.
She had stayed with the car for just a day before panicking and striking out to find help, Securo said, and had used the sun’s position to head west. She had minimal food and water with her, and drank water from rain and puddles to survive.
At one point, she sought shelter in a cave.
“She is still in disbelief that she was able to survive,” Securo said.
“In her mind, she had convinced herself that she was not going to be located … I’m sure she got to a point where she thought no one was coming.”
Wilga was found about 24km from her car.
Securo said Wilga was “very traumatised” and “just overwhelmed” to have been found, and that the woman who found her on the edge of Maroubra Road in Bimbijy was “quite overwhelmed herself”.
“We are extremely thankful for her stopping and giving Carolina assistance,” she said.
Wilga had planned to explore WA then head north, Securo said, and still plans to travel Australia, with the east coast “on her bucket list”.
Wilga’s rescuer described it as a “miracle” that she survived, according to the ABC.
Tania, a local farming resident who did not want her surname used, said Wilga was “on the side of the road waving her hands” and she immediately knew who it was.
“Obviously, there is nobody who comes up my way walking around,” she said.
“She was in a fragile state, but she was well. Thin, but well. She’d been bitten by a lot of midgies. She said it was very, very cold.”
Tania said Wilga had no shoes on, and that it could have been days before someone else drove down that road. “Miracle is a word that gets bandied about a lot, but to survive 12 days and cross-country – she went cross country to come to my road,” she said.
‘A very hostile environment’
WA police inspector Martin Glynn said Wilga had survived in a “really, really challenging environment”.
“As you can imagine, from the trauma she suffered for the last few days, she’s been obviously through a great deal,” Glynn said.
“She does have some injuries. She’s been ravaged by mosquitoes. She’s obviously been through an amazing journey, a trauma, no doubt – a testimony to demonstrating her bravery in those circumstances.
“There’s a very hostile environment out there, both from flora and fauna.”
The survival expert Gordon Dedman, founder of Bush Survival Australia and a survival consultant for Alone Australia, said staying with your vehicle is the “golden rule” in the outback. Not only does it help searchers, it provides shelter and the mirrors can be used to attract attention, he said.
Creating a giant X on the ground is another way to attract attention. Those travelling in remote areas should carry beacons and objects such as tinsel lines, which will sparkle in the sun, he said.
As for food, Dedman points to the “rule of threes” to prioritise what is needed: “Three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food.”
According to him, people can last a long time without food by using their “survival muscle” – their fat.
Dedman uses the acronym STOP – stop, think, organise and plan – and another acronym PLAN – protection, location, acquisition, and navigation – for survival.
Protection means sorting out first aid, clothing, shelter and fire. Location involves attracting, holding and directing attention. Acquisition is getting water, then food, and navigation is travel orientation and direction.
Fire has multiple uses, Dedman said, from warmth and light, to boiling water, cooking food and making a smoke signal.
The WA premier, Roger Cook, said he was “incredibly relieved” that Wilga had been found alive.
“This news is nothing short of remarkable,” he wrote on Facebook.
“We’re yet to have the full picture of what happened, but … we can all breathe a little easier knowing Carolina is safe and well.”
