Never give up your hope: Missing for 12 days: backpacker Jamie Neale found

bushwalking

Backpacker Jamie Neale has been found alive in the NSW Blue Mountains after being missing for 12 days.

"About 11.30am today, two bushwalkers alerted emergency services to advise they had come across a man who identified himself as Jamie Neale near the Narrow Neck fire trail, near Katoomba," NSW Police said in a statement.

"Police Rescue officers, using a Rural Fire Service vehicle, made their way to the location and confirmed the identity of the man.

"He's been taken to Katoomba Hospital for treatment of dehydration and exposure."

One of the bushwalkers had some medical experience and treated Mr Neale before he was taken to hospital, 2GB Radio reported.

Mr Neale told a police officer at the hospital that he had been worried the searchers had given up looking for him, 2GB said.

A 2GB reporter said that, at the hospital, Mr Neale looked very haggard and had answered questions "mumbling". "[He's] walking, talking and now in hospital care," he said.

"He was a bit shocked that there were TV cameras there. [But] he ... didn't look like he was about to fall over."

Mr Neale's father, Richard Cass, was at Sydney Airport and about to fly home to Britain this afternoon, a police spokesman said.

"My understanding is he's now being flown [by helicopter] from the airport to the Blue Mountains ... he was at the airport to fly out of the country," he said.

YHA relieved

A spokeswoman at YHA NSW, the organisation that runs the Katoomba hostel where Mr Neale was staying, said they were extremely relieved that the backpacker had been found.

"YHA is thrilled and delighted for the family and for Jamie," she said.

As he was travelling alone, few of the guests at the hostel had met Mr Neale but were distressed to hear he had gone missing.

"It's been a difficult time. Everyone's been worried for him and we've been assisting the police and crossing our fingers like everyone else."

Last seen on July 3

Mr Neale, 19, from North London, had been missing since July 3, and was last seen above Ruined Castle, a rock formation in the Jamison Valley, about midday, police said.

A massive search had been mounted for Mr Neale, who had left many of his possessions, including a mobile phone, at the youth hostel in Katoomba where he had been staying.

He was seen leaving the hostel, intending to walk the popular track to the Ruined Castle rock formation and was last sighted hours later on top of it.

He told a married couple he met there that he intended to keep walking to Mount Solitary, a return trip of about 10 hours.

Like searching for a needle in a haystack: police

Police had expressed frustration Mr Neale did not register his plans with police or the National Parks and Wildlife Service before setting out on July 3.

Police also urged bushwalkers to use personal locator beacons that are available free of charge from Springwood and Katoomba police stations and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Police had said finding Mr Neale was "like searching for a needle in a haystack".

On Monday, they said the chances of finding him alive were slim.

Father travelled from England to help in search

Mr Neale's father had faith in his son's survival skills.

"He's very tolerant of cold and, if anybody can survive this, he will," he said late last week.

Mr Neale's brother Alan, 29, had said the family were deeply concerned for the teenager's safety.

"My stepdad has gone out there to see what he can find out," he told The London Paper.

"My mum has stayed at home. We are very worried about what has happened to Jamie, but we are still hopeful that he will turn up safe.

"It's hard when things are happening on the other side of the world."

Mr Neale, who arrived in Australia on June 22 for a holiday, is described by his family as an experienced hiker.

Ource SMH http://www.smh.com.au/national/m ... -20090715-dktz.html

bushwalking

Blue Mountains' walking trail 'pretty wild country'

Jamie Neale needed to cross a steep cliff line from where he was last spotted to get up to the fire trail where he was found this morning, an experienced bushwalker says.

Andrew Cox, chief executive of the National Parks Association of NSW, expressed amazement Mr Neale had made it up on to the fire trail, saying there was only one known pass in what was "pretty wild country".

Mr Neale, 19, missing in the Blue Mountains for 12 days, was discovered this morning near the fire trail, police said.

GB Radio said they had spoken to one of the rescuers. He told 2GB Mr Neale was not found at Narrow Neck but "further down in the gully".

He was last sighted on top of Ruined Castle, a rock formation in the Jamison Valley.

"There's a cliff line between Ruined Castle and the Narrow Neck trail ... there's very few passes," Mr Cox said.

"If you don't know the area or if you don't have a map, it's very hard.

"I've done [the walk between Ruined Castle and Narrow Neck fire trail] about five or six times, I've tried to search for cliff passes before."

The easiest path between the two landmarks was a walk of about 10 kilometres, comprising a three-kilometre descent to Cedar Creek, a four-kilometre walk across, and two-kilometre ascent back up to the fire trail, he said.

It was not yet known how Mr Neale made it across.

"[Narrow Neck] is at the back of Katoomba; there are great views along the way," Mr Cox said.

"It overlooks Ruined Castle; it's just to the west.

"But it's pretty wild country, especially for an inexperienced walker."

Source SMH http://www.smh.com.au/national/b ... -20090715-dl19.html

bushwalking

Water crucial: survival expert



A fit, healthy person could survive being lost in the bush for two weeks or more - as long as they had water and shelter, a survival expert said today.

Commenting on the discovery of British backpacker Jamie Neale, Paul Luckin, a Brisbane anaesthetist, said that, "if a person had water, warm clothing and was able to keep himself dry and out of the wind, survival for a fortnight is quite likely".

Dr Luckin, who gave evidence at the recent inquest into the death of 17-year-old David Iredale, who died after becoming lost in the Blue Mountains in December 2006, said water, not food was the crucial issue.

"Food is not a limiting factor until at least three weeks.

"If [Mr Neale] was able to find some water, his chances of survival would be fairly good," said Dr Luckin, adding: "He may have been fairly uncomfortable.

"How long you can survive without water depends on how hot it is, the humidity, the winds and how much exercise you are doing."

He speculated that Mr Neale, described by his family as an experienced hiker, "may have been able to make himself a shelter by scraping together some dry vegetation, or by finding a cave. It sounds as though he had just about everything going for him".

Dr Luckin has been involved in rescues since the 1970s when he was a Tasmanian ambulance paramedic. He later spent eight years attached to a South African mountain rescue group and now teaches rescue skills to police.

He said the case of Mr Neale should be used to remind people that the key to survival in the bush was preparation. Everyone entering the bush should leave details of where they are going, when they expect to reach certain points and when they will be back.

They should also carry an EPIRB emergency rescue beacon which, if activated, could beam their position, within a few hundred metres, via satellite to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. A mobile telephone, which could be turned on from time to time, could also be used to make contact with the outside world.

To avoid getting lost, Dr Luckin added, "the key is never to go alone and never, ever, walk away from a group.

"The majority of people I have had to go and look for are people who are not prepared, are not in groups and no one knows where they are going. It is, in my experience, very uncommon from someone from an organised mountain or hiking group to get lost.

"It is usually the day tripper who grabs a backpack and a pair of running shoes who doesn't come home. Mother nature is a great friend but if you put yourself against her she will win every time."

Source SMH http://www.smh.com.au/national/w ... -20090715-dl3f.html