In short
Rescue experts say a missing teenage boy did everything right after going missing in dense bushland for six days.
asserted
boy → say → days
William, whose surname has not been released, was found huddled beneath a blanket by a creek bed on Thursday.
The 17-year-old kept his spirits up by singing to himself, staying warm and hydrated, and remained in one spot in clear view of rescuers.
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old → release → rescuers
Search and rescue experts are praising a 17-year-old boy who "kept his wits about him" and survived six days alone in dense bushland, after becoming lost on his first unsupervised camping adventure.
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who → praise → adventure
William, whose surname has been withheld, sparked a major search after disappearing on November 6 while he was camping with a friend at Walhalla East, nearly 200 kilometres east of Melbourne.
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he → withhold → Melbourne
What followed was a gruelling near week-long ordeal in some of Victoria's most rugged bushland.
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followed → follow → bushland
As the days passed, sun and temperatures soared before plummeting overnight, bringing bitterly cold conditions.
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sun → pass → conditions
All the while emergency services faced a serious challenge as they navigated hundreds of kilometres of impenetrable bush in a desperate attempt to find the teenager.
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they → face → teenager
It forced searchers to take to the skies.
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It → force → skies
The race was on to find the missing 17-year-old.
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race → find → old
The teenager, who loves football and video games, had to contend with the mental strain of the isolation, unsure when, or if, help would arrive.
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help → love → isolation
His friends, family, and tireless rescuers were overjoyed when he was finally found asleep on a rock beside a dry creek bed.
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he → find → bed
'Calm, sensible decisions' saved boy's life
William demonstrated a series of remarkably sensible survival instincts.
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William → save → instincts
During his six days alone he rationed his food — one packet of chicken chips, kept hydrated, wrapped himself in blankets at night to stay warm and remained in one spot, clearly visible to search crews.
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he → ration → crews
The teenager also kept his spirits up by singing John Denver's Take Me Home, Country Roads.
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Denver → keep → Me
Experts say William's level-headed decisions may have ultimately saved his life.
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decisions → say → life
Simin Ngan, co-convener of Bush Search and Rescue Victoria, said William "definitely" made some calm and collected decisions.
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William → say → decisions
"Given the level of experience he had in the bush, he did absolutely what was appropriate and the best thing to do," Ms Ngan said.
"It was the best he could do with the resources he had."
Ms Ngan said staying warm and hydrated are two of the most important things to do when stuck in the bush.
uncertain
staying → give → bush
"He also [was aware] of his limitations, and didn't push himself to keep going through terrain that he was not used to when he wasn't sure how to navigate," she said.
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she → push → that
"I think that was a key factor in his own survival."
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that → think → survival
Those sentiments were echoed by senior instructor with Bushcraft Survival Australia, Gordon Dedman, speaking to ABC Sydney.
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sentiments → echo → Sydney
"[That area] is very, very thick bushland and it can get really — down on the peninsula — very, very cold as well, with the temperatures dropping as they have…
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they → get → peninsula
so yeah, very hairy and very thick bush indeed," Mr Dedman said.
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Dedman → say → ?
"He's kept his wits about him.
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He → keep → him
He's done exactly the right thing."
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He → do → thing
Mr Dedman said it's vital in an emergency not to "keep moving, and moving, and moving".
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it → say → emergency
"That makes it hard for rescue teams to find them," he said.
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he → make → them
I mean, the human body can go for a long time without food.
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body → mean → food
A human person on their own is much harder to find, especially in dense bushland.
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person → find → bushland
"The fact that he was near a river would have also aided rescuers because if you've got an…open canopy near the river."
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you → aid → river
SES searchers put in 120 shifts over the six-day ordeal, as they provided assistance to Victoria Police and other agencies in the hunt for William.
Deputy incident management commander from the SES, Maureen Russell, said SES teams were really feeling the pressure.
"There was a bit of anxiety, a heightened [sense] of 'we have a job to do and we want to do it well', because we didn't want to miss anything," Ms Russell said.
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Russell → put → anything
And of course, our biggest goal was to find William in the shortest possible time."
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goal → find → time
Ms Russell said when William was finally found, the relief and joy was immense.
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relief → say → ?
A few minutes where we weren't quite sure what was happening," she said.
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she → happen → ?
"It wasn't until the helicopter landed and his mother was escorted out to the helicopter we realised it was a good result."
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it → land → helicopter
William is recovering in hospital with dehydration, a possibly damaged windpipe, and dropped blood pressure.
uncertain
William → recover → dehydration
The teenager is recovering well.
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teenager → recover → ?
The Aporia
