{"id":58955,"date":"2025-07-12T06:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T06:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/58955\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T06:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T06:53:13","slug":"carolina-wilgas-outback-rescuer-describes-her-survival-after-12-days-in-wheatbelt-as-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/58955\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Wilga’s outback rescuer describes her survival after 12 days in Wheatbelt as ‘miracle’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The woman who found missing German backpacker Carolina Wilga by the side of an outback road has described her rescue as miraculous.<\/p>\n

Ms Wilga was discovered on Friday afternoon, after spending 11 nights exposed to freezing temperatures in WA’s Wheatbelt region.<\/p>\n

Prior to that, Ms Wilga was last seen on June 29 at a general store in Beacon, three-and-a-half hours drive north-east of Perth.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Carolina Wilga miraculously survived after almost two weeks in a remote part of WA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Police said on Saturday morning Ms Wilga became disoriented while travelling inland before losing control of her car and becoming bogged.<\/p>\n

She was able to survive on the minimal food she had, and found water from rain and puddles.<\/p>\n

Police said Ms Wilga sought shelter at night where she could find it, including a cave.<\/p>\n

About 4:20pm on Friday, Ms Wilga was able to flag down a passing motorist on Mouroubra Road, about 24 kilometres from her stranded van, ending her ordeal.<\/p>\n

Police said on Saturday morning Ms Wilga, who was taken to Fiona Stanley Hospital, was exhausted, dehydrated, had been suffering from sunburn and had an injured foot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Very relieved’<\/p>\n

The motorist who found her, long-time local farming resident Tania Henley, told the ABC Ms Wilga was very relieved to be picked up.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

“I was coming back from Beacon because I’d been down to pick up my trailer,” she said.<\/p>\n

“She was on the side of the road waving her hands.<\/p>\n

German tourist survives against all odds in ‘serious piece’ of WA outback<\/a><\/p>\n

Officials and people local to the hostile expanse of Western Australia where 26-year-old German backpacker Carolina Wilga was missing for 11 days reflect on the search for the 26-year-old and her remarkable survival.<\/p>\n

“She was probably about 40 kilometres from my homestead.<\/p>\n

Ms Henley knew straight away it was Ms Wilga, after intensifying media coverage in recent days of the 26-year-old’s plight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Obviously, there is nobody who comes up my way walking around,” she said.<\/p>\n

“She was in a fragile state, but she was well. Thin, but well.<\/p>\n

“She’d been bitten by a lot of midgies.<\/p>\n

“She said it was very, very cold.”<\/p>\n

‘Everything is prickly’<\/p>\n

Ms Henley said the rescue was a “miracle”.<\/p>\n

“Twelve days. I was thinking the worst,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Every day would be a challenge in this weather.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Police searching for Carolina Wilga in the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“She’s a very resilient person.”<\/p>\n

Ms Henley said it could have been days before another person was travelling on the road where she found Ms Wilga.<\/p>\n

“Miracle is a word that gets bandied about a lot, but to survive 12 days and cross-country \u2014 she went cross country to come to my road,” she said.<\/p>\n

‘Pure panic’<\/p>\n

Ms Wilga spent 11 nights in the elements after leaving her bogged vehicle, a decision the German tourist told police she made in a \u201cpure panic\u201d.<\/p>\n

“She’s still in disbelief that she was able to survive,” WA Police Acting Inspector Jessica Securo said.<\/p>\n

“In her mind she had convinced herself she was not going to be located. Eleven days out there is significant.<\/p>\n

“She got to a point where she thought no-one’s coming.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Inspector Securo said it was sheer luck Ms Wilga was found.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Backpacker Carolina Wilga’s van in the Karroun Hill nature reserve. (Supplied: WA Police)<\/p>\n

“Just a member of the community. Just happened to be driving by at the right time,” she said.<\/p>\n

“My understanding is she [the rescuer] was quite overwhelmed herself.<\/p>\n

“It’s not often you drive in such a remote area and you come across a situation like that.”<\/p>\n

Inspector Securo said it was unlikely Ms Wilga would be released from hospital today.<\/p>\n

“She still needs emotional support around her, and some of her injuries attended to,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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