In what can only be described as a bloody miracle, an Aussie backpacker who was lost in an incredibly remote Malaysian mountain range for two weeks has been found alive.
Andrew Gaskell, a 26-year-old engineer from Hobart, was “weak and happy” when rescuers found him in the dense forest of Gunung Mulu National Park, in Sarawak on Borneo island.
He set off on a solo hike more than two weeks ago, on October 18, posting on Facebook that he wanted a “genuine cultural experiences with local people outside main tourist attractions and to climb a lot of mountains”.
Reflecting on his ordeal from a hospital in the local town of Miri, Gaskell admitted he’s probably done smarter things than trek alone, in a dense forest, without any navigational equipment.
“If I had a GPS or better navigational equipment I would have been fine but it was extremely stupid of me really,” he told ABC by phone.
Andrew Gaskell being carried onboard Bomba M17 at Mulu airport pic.twitter.com/cZpIp48A7U
— RTM SARAWAK (@rtm_sarawak) November 1, 2016
Gaskell survived on pretty much nothing but “a few wild ferns”, and feared he’d never make it out alive as the days wore on.
“I was getting weaker and weaker every day,” he said. “By the end of it I was quite concerned I wouldn’t make my 26th birthday.”
Miraculously, he was conscious and speaking (his only injuries were infected cuts and leeches stuck to his legs) when he was winched to safety by rescuers.
Gaskell will continue to recover in hospital but hopes to resume his travels.
Let this be a lesson to us all: don’t do dumb things as a solo traveller.
Source: ABC.
Photo: RTM Sarawak.
