WA Premier Roger Cook says rescued German backpacker Carolina Wilga is in high spirits as she recovers in a Perth hospital following her miraculous outback survival.
Ms Wilga was discovered on Friday afternoon after spending 11 nights exposed to freezing temperatures in WA’s Wheatbelt region.
Prior to that, she was last seen on June 29 at a general store in Beacon, three-and-a-half hours drive north-east of Perth.
Carolina Wilga was discovered by a local pastoralist by the side of a Wheatbelt road.
Police discovered her abandoned vehicle deep in a nature reserve 36 kilometres north of the town on Thursday afternoon and conducted a large-scale aerial search.
A day later Ms Wilga was discovered by a local pastoralist, Tania Henley, frantically waving by the side of an outback road.
Rescuer describes moment she discovered lost German backpacker
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mr Cook said the 26-year-old was recovering in hospital.
“I am so pleased that Carolina is safe and well,” Mr Cook said.
“We are so pleased that she’s managed this extraordinary feat of surviving in the wilds for 11 nights.
“I can’t imagine how traumatic it was for her and I can’t imagine the elation that her mother and her family and her friends must have felt when [it] was reported that she was safe.
“She’s still in hospital and in good care and I understand her spirits are high. But obviously she has to get over a very difficult physical ordeal.”
Warning for travellers
Mr Cook said the story should serve as a reminder of how inhospitable remote Western Australia could be.
Roger Cook says people need to take precautions when considering travel in remote areas of WA. (ABC News: Lauren Smith )
“Everyone should take note though that this is an example of just how dangerous our bushland and our outback can be,” he said.
“Everyone travelling to Western Australia should always bear that in mind.
Missing backpacker’s van found 35km off-track in bush
“If you’re looking to undertake extensive travel into regional WA, please take the necessary precautions.
“We know Carolina did undertake some of those precautions, her van was equipped with a certain amount of equipment to get her out of trouble.
“But ultimately she did get into trouble.
“EPIRBs (emergency position-indicating radio beacons), satellite phones, those sort of things are really good ideas if you’re going into regional WA by yourself.”
The premier said the case echoed the experience of Robert Bogucki, who in 1999 was discovered after surviving 43 days in the WA desert.
“That was a remarkable number of nights in the Great Sandy Desert,” he said.
“These are always unfortunate circumstances but they are also opportunities, when you have a success like this, just to celebrate the human spirit, tenacity.”
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