Doctors treating 11-year-old Luke Shambrook have said they do not know how he survived during his four nights lost in Victorian bushland.
A team under Dr Amy Gray, a general paediatrician at the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne, has been treating Luke, who has autism, since he was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night after being found near Lake Eildon.
Luke had been asking for food and interacting with his family but it was still unclear whether, or how, he had accessed food or water while he was lost, Gray said on Wednesday.
“We don’t really know about what happened,” Gray said. “He’s tired and weak, as you would expect, but there’s no other real major physical issues at this stage.
“I don’t know that any of us know exactly what he’s been through, but for all of us, we think he’s doing fabulously ... and certainly he is in much better condition than we could expect.”
The main concern for Luke when he was admitted was dehydration, Gray said. He had no physical injuries and he was improving by the hour.
Gray said it was likely Luke would remain in hospital for monitoring for at least one more night, though his condition was stable.
“He’s communicating with his family, he seems very content and settled on the ward, happily interacting with his family and doing well,” she said.
Luke was found by Victoria police who spotted him from a search helicopter about 11.55am on Tuesday. The road he was found on is about three kilometres from the Candlebark campsite where Luke had last been seen by his family on Friday.
Luke’s family had warned searchers it was possible he did not know he was lost because of his autism, and his condition meant his ability to communicate with rescuers was limited.
