Latest news with #CarolinaWilga
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Carolina Wilga: German backpacker says goodbye to Perth after 12 days stranded in WA outback
German backpacker Carolina Wilga has bid farewell to Perth in a heartwarming Instagram post after capturing hearts with her incredible story of survival. The 26-year-old survived 12 days alone in WA's Wheatbelt region this month, with her whereabouts sparking a missing persons search that had the entire country on alert. After being discharged following several days recovering at Fiona Stanley Hospital, Ms Wilga reunited with friends and rushed straight to the ocean — something the adventurer clearly missed while she was lost. Ms Wilga took to Instagram in the early hours of Sunday morning to share several photos of her time in the hospital, at Cottesloe Beach with friends and Monday's front page of The West Australian that included a story about her ordeal. 'Reunion with the ocean and a great goodbye to Perth with loooots of hugs ❤️ love you all,' she captioned the post, which she has since deleted. Ms Wilga was last seen on June 29, travelling through Beacon, before she was found alive by a passing motorist on July 11. After she met with police, the young traveller was flown to Perth and admitted to Fiona Stanley Hospital dehydrated, traumatised, and 12kg lighter. She was discharged on Wednesday and is expected to fly back home to Germany. Police last Saturday said Ms Wilga became 'lost and disoriented' while exploring the Karroun Hill nature reserve. When trying to look for her way out, she later lost control of her Mitsubishi Delica van, which police found just one day before her rescue. She survived by drinking water from puddles and sleeping in a cave. In a statement earlier this week, Ms Wilga thanked the WA community for their dedicated search efforts. 'I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support,' she said. 'The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments. For this, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. 'Especially to the police investigators, searchers, the German Consulate, the medical staff and the wonderful nurses who took care of me with so much compassion. 'My deepest thanks also go to every single person who simply thought of me – and of course, to my rescuer and angel, Tania.'
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
German backpacker gives ‘great goodbye to Perth'
German backpacker Carolina Wilga has bid farewell to Perth in a heartwarming Instagram post after capturing hearts with her incredible story of survival. The 26-year-old survived 12 days alone in WA's Wheatbelt region this month, with her whereabouts sparking a missing persons search that had the entire country on alert. After being discharged following several days recovering at Fiona Stanley Hospital, Ms Wilga reunited with friends and rushed straight to the ocean — something the adventurer clearly missed while she was lost. Ms Wilga took to Instagram in the early hours of Sunday morning to share several photos of her time in the hospital, at Cottesloe Beach with friends and Monday's front page of The West Australian that included a story about her ordeal. 'Reunion with the ocean and a great goodbye to Perth with loooots of hugs ❤️ love you all,' she captioned the post. Carolina Wilga shared one of The West Australian's front page stories documenting her ordeal. Credit: Supplied Ms Wilga was last seen on June 29, travelling through Beacon, before she was found alive by a passing motorist on July 11. After she met with police, the young traveller was flown to Perth and admitted to Fiona Stanley Hospital dehydrated, traumatised, and 12kg lighter. She was discharged on Wednesday and is expected to fly back home to Germany. Police last Saturday said Ms Wilga became 'lost and disoriented' while exploring the Karroun Hill nature reserve. When trying to look for her way out, she later lost control of her Mitsubishi Delica van, which police found just one day before her rescue. Ms Wilga has revealed she lost 12 kilograms during her harrowing 12-day ordeal in the WA outback. Credit: Unknown / Instagram Ms Wilga's bogged van was found 35km away from any dirt tracks in the harsh outback. Credit: 7NEWS / 7NEWS She survived by drinking water from puddles and sleeping in a cave. In a statement earlier this week, Ms Wilga thanked the WA community for their dedicated search efforts. 'I am certain that I survived only thanks to this incredible outpouring of support,' she said. 'The thought of all the people who believed in me, searched for me, and kept hoping for me gave me the strength to carry on during my darkest moments. For this, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. 'Especially to the police investigators, searchers, the German Consulate, the medical staff and the wonderful nurses who took care of me with so much compassion. 'My deepest thanks also go to every single person who simply thought of me – and of course, to my rescuer and angel, Tania.'
SBS Australia
a day ago
- SBS Australia
Remarkable survival story prompts reminders on travel safely in Australia's outback
"She spent one day with the car after it became bogged? and then she moved on from there, so she was essentially out in the wilderness for eleven nights which is significant and just brings us back to how lucky she was that she was located safely and well and how thankful we are that we managed to find her. She basically looked at the direction of the sun and tried to head west, thinking that would be her best bet to come across someone or a road." That's Western Australia's Acting Detective Inspector Jessica Securo at a press conference over the weekend. She detailed just how a 26-year-old German backpacker survived the brutal 12-day ordeal alone in the outback. Carolina Wilga has been discharged from a Perth hospital after surviving nearly two weeks lost in remote Western Australia. She was treated for dehydration and minor injuries - she is safe, walking, and has reunited with loved ones. Detective Inspector Securo says family members in Germany were overwhelmed. "They were in disbelief that a community can come together and just throw every resource at locating their daughter." From the hospital, Ms Wilga revealed why she abandoned her vehicle: she hit her head after losing control of her van, and strayed from the bogged car in a state of confusion. In a police statement, Ms Wilga also thanked the motorist who found her last Friday, as well as police, searchers and medical staff. Tania was the woman who found her. She told ABC News of the moment she saw Ms Wilga. "I knew it was her straight away. I was coming back from Beacon because I'd been down to pick up my trailer and yeah she was on the side of the road, waving her hand." Ms Wilga left her hometown of Castrop-Rauxel in Germany with big dreams, to see every corner of this vast country. She'd walked for 11 days - sleeping in a cave, surviving by drinking from rainwater and puddles on the ground. Caro Ryan is the Bush Search and Rescue Deputy Unit Commander at SES New South Wales. She recommends the TREK method for adventure seekers looking to travel in Australia. "Trek acronym, TREK, and it stands for T, which is take everything you need. So that's going to be your food and your water. Take a little bit extra, you don't know if you're going to get delayed. Take a first aid kit, take some warm layers of clothes, take a map and a compass or a good way of navigating - you might have a digital app, something like that. Make sure you've definitely then got your battery pack, a power bank for your phone to keep that phone working." She says a paper map is helpful, and there are good packing lists available online. "Then the R is for register your intention, which is really just a fancy way of saying tell somebody where you're going. It's really important. So not only tell someone where you're going, but get specific. Tell them what track you're going to do in what area, where you're going to leave your car, how long you're going to be, and let them know when you're back as well." Ms Ryan says having a personal locator beacon can be a lifesaver. "Then E stands for emergency communications. So you think about these wild places we have all across Australia so many times we don't have mobile phone coverage, and having a way of communicating if something goes wrong or even just to let someone know you're running late is essential. So having a PLB, that's a personal locator beacon, it's a small device, fits in the palm of your hand. You can either buy them or rent them and they're absolute lifesavers." And lastly, familiarise yourself with the intended journey. "Finally we've got K, which is know your route and stick to it. So that's really about planning the trip that's right for you, for your experience, for the skills that you might have for your level of fitness and making sure you've got good information about that track that you're going to be doing as well. There's a great system in Australia, we've got the Australian walking track grading system, and our tracks all across Australia are graded from one to five, whereas five is really hard." Sergeant Jim Armstrong is from the WA Police Emergency Operations Unit. He says research and preparation is key - from informing someone that you're going to choosing the right type of clothing and equipment. "One thing that we recommend is offline mapping. So with most phones that have Google, there'll be a mapping feature and in the settings there, there's a thing called offline mapping and what you can do is actually select an area that you're intending to go to and you won't need to have phone coverage for your mapping to still function." And Sergeant Armstrong says people often try to do things they're not equipped to do. "We often see people attempting to do some serious four-wheel drive off-road adventures in their commuter vehicles, which are just totally unsuitable for the conditions. So it's important that your vehicle is suitable and it's also mechanically sound and checked out before you leave. Now with regard to your advanced planning for your trip, have a look at the resources you have and also have a self-rescue plan if something were to go wrong and an idea of what you intend to do." It's always recommended to stay with the vehicle but if that isn't possible, he says, leave a clear trail. "If you reach a point at a track like a fork or you have to make a decision to go left or right, leave a pile of rocks on the track with an arrow with some sticks, just pointing in the direction you've gone. It just makes things a lot easier when we're out searching if we come across something like that, we know which way to keep searching. When you are camped up for the night, consider a small fire. Obviously we don't want fires to get out of control, but a small fire with the smoke and the heat can be easily spotted by a plane or a helicopter." Sergeant Armstrong says any reflective device like a mirror can attract attention to your location. Despite everything she's been through, WA Police say Ms Wilga still loves Australia and has plans to see the rest of the country, including travelling across to the east coast.
West Australian
2 days ago
- West Australian
Carolina Wilga: Satellite internet technology helped WA Police in search for missing backpacker
The roll-out of satellite internet across the WA Police Force has been credited for its success in helping with the search for missing German backpacker Carolina Wilga. Officers in remote parts of the state are using the Starlink network to remain connected to critical systems where mobile coverage isn't available. 'Over 200 vehicles in regional WA have now been fitted with Starlink,' Police Commissioner Col Blanch said. 'In Carolina Wilga's search and rescue we had three vehicle all with Starlink capability. In the past WA Police would have zero communications, or very sketchy communications. We would really struggle with our land searches.' The technology has been implemented by the Anywhere Communications Team, who were winners at the WA Police Force Recognition of Excellence Awards this week for their contribution. 'It's extraordinary for our police officer who have the full ability to use all of the data, collect all of the information and to plot every path they need to go to do these searches,' the Commissioner said. 'They (officers) are safe but also we do our job much better out in the field.'
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Truth about where backpacker went missing
A bush survival expert has warned Aussies to learn basic bush skills should they ever find themselves in a situation like German backpacker Carolina Wilga did. The 26-year-old, who was released from hospital on Wednesday, survived 12 days in the difficult terrain of Karroun Hill, at the edge of Western Australia's Wheatbelt. Ms Wilga had not been seen since June 29 and family in Germany had raised the alarm via Interpol when she failed to return their messages. After an extensive air and land search, she was found alive on the edge of Karroun Hill Nature Reserve by a local farmer. She was located barefoot 36 kilometres from her van, which she abandoned after it became bogged. Ms Wilga's survival has been described as 'extraordinary' by John Considine, a survival trainer at Bob Cooper Outback Survival, in Western Australia. 'Australia's wilderness is unforgiving and Carolina survived 11 nights which is absolutely magnificent,' he told While Ms Wilga is yet to explain how she survived an incredible 12 days in rugged bushland, Mr Considine said as a company that provides survival training, he could not emphasise enough the importance of being prepared before venturing out of the metro area. 'Anyone planning on leaving the bitumen and explore Australia's outback needs a comprehensive survival course,' he told 'There are other things that they can do to be prepared, like knowing your vehicle, carrying the requisite spares and the most important thing, telling someone where you're going, how long and when you're going to make contact again.' He said this is important because they can call for help if they don't hear from you in the time frame you provided. 'Summer would have been worse' Ms Wilga endured subzero temperatures and was 'ravaged' by mosquito bites while missing – she also lost 12kg in 12 days. Mr Considine said while winter would have its challenges like hyperthermia, the season would have also worked in her favour. 'It would have brought its own challenges because it's obviously cold, but she wouldn't have been losing water at the rate she would have if it had been in the summer,' he said. Mr Considine said if she had been rained on or got wet, she could likely have suffered from hypothermia. 'In Australia's desert environments, if you don't die of heatstroke during the day, you'll die of hyperthermia during the night,' he said. 'The interesting thing about the environment that she was in at Karroun Hill is that it's part of what's left of an enormous woodland forest – it's mostly eucalyptus and hakea, so really hard-leafed plants. 'It's a tough environment but in the particular location she was in, she may well have been able to find water. Even superficially. She ended up driving her vehicle down a granite outcrop which is where the earth's bedrock sticks up out of the soil. 'Now those features tend to carry water down into the surrounding earth. In winter, you often find superficial water (on the surface/puddles) and if it's not superficial you generally don't have to dig very far. In summer it's a different story.' Mr Considine said the water would generally be pretty safe. 'That's actually in the nature reserve, so in my estimation there's not a huge risk of E. coli or any of the other bacteria that are likely to occur in other areas,' he said. The survival bush expert said the human body can also go without food for weeks, but with water it depends on the environment and conditions. 'For example, if you're in a climate controlled hospital room doing absolutely nothing, you'll still need about 1.2 litres of water a day to maintain your basic bodily functions,' he explained. 'A sedentary modern male worker needs about 3.7 litres and a female is about 2.7 litres.' Maintaining mental clarity is just as important, as it can have negative impacts on your physical state. 'Any environmental stresses, anything that causes you to feel fear or panic or any of those emotions will cause you to lose more water,' Mr Considine said. He said until Ms Wilga comes out describing how much food and water she took from the vehicle when she set out on foot, is when they will have a better understanding of the challenges she faced. The 26-year-old was also 'ravaged' by mosquitoes but Mr Considine said, while it would have been extremely annoying, it's not life-threatening. 'If you contracted Ross River or another mosquito-borne viruses, that's potentially an issue,' he said, adding that snakes also wouldn't have presented much of an issue as it's winter. 'There's a risk, but there's a very, very small risk at this time of year,' he said. 'Snakes won't have come out of winter sleep yet, and if you make enough noise, they'll grow legs and run a mile. 'They really don't like being disturbed. And they'll only strike if they think that their life is in danger. The reality is there are very, very few environmental risks in terms of envenomation.' Mr Considine also spoke about Ms Wilga leaving her vehicle and the debate it sparked. Some questioned why she abandoned the vehicle, but the backpacker has since explained the reason. 'Some people might wonder why I even left my car, even though I had water, food, and clothing there,' Ms Wilga said in a statement on Monday. 'The answer is: I lost control of the car and rolled down a slope. In the crash, I hit my head significantly. As a result of the accident, I left my car in a state of confusion and got lost.' Mr Considine said it really depends on the circumstances you're on whether you should leave or stay with your vehicle. 'I think the important thing to recognise from the statement she made was she had suffered a head injury – from that I think we can deduce that she made decisions that she might not otherwise have made,' he said. 'She likely would have been found a day earlier if she stayed with her van. 'She's been in Australia for two years, she has been a FIFO worker – she probably done more hard graft than most young Aussies do.' During training at Bob Cooper Outback Survival participants look at the fundamentals of survival in the outback – water, fire, shelter, signalling, and food. 'We look at how to get those things from the environment that we're in, how to source water, how to filter it, if not purify it, how to make fire by friction, so if you haven't got matches or a lighter you know what to do.'
