Missing teen found alive after 6 days in the Australian woodlands | Hanomansing Live

A teenager in Australia has been found alive after being lost for six days in the eastern Australian woodlands. The 17-year-old disappeared last Friday while on a camping trip with friends. Police say a rescue helicopter spotted him asleep on a rock, mostly in good health. The search involved more than 100 people, including search and rescue air personnel, a diving squad and a canine search team. Well, our next guest was on the ground near where the teen was hospitalized. Isabel Quinlan is a Nine News Australia reporter who's been covering this story, and she joins us from Victoria, Australia. Isabel, thank you very much for connecting with us. You were at the hospital today, and what are we learning about the teen and his condition? Yes Ian, good morning to you I should say, it's good afternoon here. Will is in very good spirits considering what he has been through. Six days lost in dense bushland here in Victoria and it was pretty gruelling. We're talking really cold nights but extremely hot days. So he is doing incredibly well. He is suffering from severe sunburn, he's dehydrated and he also has a tear So he is being treated here at the hospital, but overall is doing quite well. Well, and I think he's really keen to tuck into some McDonald's when he eventually can eat again. So the video that we're looking at as you're speaking to us is incredible. It's the you know, the video he's on a rock and the fact that he's doing relatively well makes it even more incredible to see the condition he was in. What are officials saying about the rescue? Well, officials have actually gotten quite emotional. I think for them, they put a lot of hope and anticipation into finding him. But as it was almost a week since he disappeared, it was getting to a pretty critical stage. But I think they are absolutely elated when they saw him. They originally spotted his tackle box because the 17-year-old became lost while trying. He was camping and he was retrieving some gear. He was... Lost a bit of his way and then he actually fell down a cliff and that's where you found him and you can probably see him on that rock. That's where he stayed until he was rescued. And it's just incredible that they were able to find him. They spotted his tackle box and then yeah, were able to locate him. And I think he was relieved and I'm sure the rescuers were relieved as well. Yeah, well, one of the reasons, you know, as far away as Canada we're doing this story is because, you know, such a happy ending. I assume, though, during that period, you mentioned that, you know, the nights were cold and who knows where this kid was. There must have been a lot of fears for what had happened to him. Absolutely. I actually spoke to Will a bit earlier myself on a Zoom from his hospital bed and he was also pretty scared. He's like, I didn't know if people were looking for me and I was just holding out hope that they were looking for me. He heard a few times that the chopper was going up above ahead of him, but he was, you know, so exhausted and was suffering from dehydration. He couldn't actually walk or continue climbing back up that hill. So Yes, I think there was a lot of hope and anticipation for many days, especially from his mum. I'm sure you've seen that video as well, the reunion between Will and his mum. And that embrace, I think, says it all. There was a lot of hope and it's just so lovely to see that they were able to be reunited. Isabel, one last thing. If I heard you correctly, I think you said that one of the injuries he has, did you see a damage to his windpipe? What happened? Yes, so he has a tear in his windpipe. It's understood that he got that injury from when he slipped and fell down the cliff. So at the moment, they're just monitoring that. He will be – he's currently in a local hospital. He's going to be taken to a hospital in Melbourne, and he'll be monitored and go under observation there from doctors. So overall, I think he's just really keen to tuck into some food. And he told me that he's really keen to get back to playing Australian rules football as well as seeing his cat. You know, where I am in Vancouver, British Columbia, we have a lot of back country where, you know, people go missing and incredible searches are mounted. And this story is a reminder of the importance of, you know, keep looking while there's still a possibility that the person is there waiting to be rescued, which was the happy ending here. Isabel Quinlan, a Nine News Australia reporter. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for your time.