Hiker Safe After 12 Days Lost in Aussie Hills

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2009 5:40 AM CDT
Hiker Safe After 12 Days Lost in Aussie Hills
Richard Cass, father of Jamie Neale, shows his relief as he walks out of the Blue Mountains Hospital today.   (Getty Images)

A British teenager is recovering in the hospital after an afternoon trip that turned into a 12-day ordeal in the Australian wilderness, the BBC reports. Jamie Neale, 19, got lost in the Blue Mountains and survived by eating seeds and grass, and sheltering under logs amid freezing temperatures. His son has "come back from the dead," said Neale's relieved but exasperated father. 

The teen was found by bushwalkers some 9 miles from where he began his hike. "I can't say I'll kill him, it would spoil the point of him coming back," said Richard Cass, who flew to Australia from the UK to assist in the search. "He's probably the only teenager in the world who goes on a 10-mile hike and leaves his mobile phone at home." (More missing person stories.)

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