{"id":88419,"date":"2026-09-05T01:30:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/88419\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T01:30:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:30:31","slug":"carolina-wilgas-heartfelt-thanks-to-stranger-who-saved-german-backpacker-after-11-nights-lost-in-wa-outback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/88419\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Wilga\u2019s heartfelt thanks to stranger who saved German backpacker after 11 nights lost in WA outback"},"content":{"rendered":"

A German backpacker who sparked an intense multi-day search when she disappeared in the Australian outback has been reconnected with the local farmer that saved her life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tania Henley<\/a> came across a malnourished and frost-bitten Carolina Wilga<\/a> at the boundary of the 300,000-hectare Karroun Hill Nature Reserve, more than 300km northeast of Perth,<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: German backpacker\u2019s 11-night outback survival ordeal<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

After 11 nights alone and without supplies, Wilga was instantly comforted by Henley\u2019s embrace and the soup she brought with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe hugged me and it was what I needed. It was just amazing,\u201d Wilga said.<\/p>\n

During an Australian-exclusive sit-down with 7NEWS, Wilga beamed as she spoke via a video call with the person who plucked her from danger and laughed when Henley joked the 27-year-old looked \u201ca lot better\u201d than when the pair met in July, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so glad. You look so well,\u201d Henley said.<\/p>\n

\"CarolinaCarolina Wilga has reconnected with Tania Henley a year after the backpacker was rescued from the Australian outback. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

Aerial images of Wilga\u2019s 1995 Mitsubishi Delica van<\/a> abandoned in thick bush had cast doubt that the backpacker would be found alive.<\/p>\n

She told 7NEWS she believes she was concussed and hallucinating from an earlier crash<\/a> when she left her car \u2014 dressed only in a dress and without shoes, food or water \u2014 after hearing a noise.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It was) kind of like an alarm for me, and for me I felt like I have to wake up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sleeping. It was my alarm, like get up out of your bed. So I started walking but I didn\u2019t know what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilga said she was buoyed by thoughts of her family when at her lowest, and \u201cI just walked\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made my mum a promise that I will walk until I die, that I will not give up, I want to live,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Henley revealed she thinks often about the German\u2019s remarkable endurance, because the nights were \u201cjust so cold, so, so cold\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of my friends go, well we just don\u2019t know how you survived,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did an amazing job to survive. It was incredible really.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CarolinaCarolina Wilga left her van before it was found by search teams stuck in thick bush. Credit: 7NEWS\"CarolinaCarolina Wilga\u2019s van was found in Karroun Hill, more than 300km northeast of Perth. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

During their chat it was revealed the pair had almost crossed paths at Mt Churchman 24 hours before Wilga was ultimately discovered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went there the day before and I could only get about 3\/4 of the way because the water has washed out the track but I was looking for your tyre tracks,\u201d Henley said.<\/p>\n

Wilga has plans to revisit Australia and drop in to Bimbijy Station to see Henley<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you very, very much, Tania … you were such an angel,\u201d Wilga said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not only that you took me to the police, (but) how you talked to me and how kind you were \u2014 this is not that common so thank you for this. And, I have your hoodie, still.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WilgaWilga says she feared she would die in WA\u2019s outback. Credit: 7NEWS\"TaniaTania Henley came to the rescue. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

Henley was confident their \u201cpaths will cross again\u201d and hoped others in her situation would do the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it\u2019s the Australian way. You help when people need help. that\u2019s how it should be really,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wilga has written a book about her experience titled Escaping the Outback: My Fight for Survival in the Australian Wilderness<\/p>\n

You can watch Carolina Wilga\u2019s hour-long interview with 7NEWS here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Backpacker reveals shocking moment from 11 nights lost in outback<\/p>\n

3 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Rescued backpacker\u2019s van hits the market<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A German backpacker who sparked an intense multi-day search when she disappeared in the Australian outback has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88420,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,23,21,10517,227,1953,152,464,127368],"class_list":["post-88419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-austrlia","tag-germany","tag-lifestyle","tag-missing-person","tag-news","tag-wa-news","tag-your-feed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}