Autistic Teenager Rescued Alive After Six Days Lost in Australian Wilderness

MELBOURNE, Australia — A 17-year-old boy with autism was found alive on Thursday after spending six days lost in the woodlands of eastern Australia.

The teenager, whom police identified only as William, had set out on a camping trip with a friend when he went missing last Friday near Walhalla, a former gold-mining town located 185 kilometers (115 miles) east of Melbourne, according to police.

A police helicopter crew spotted him asleep on a flat rock beside a creek, surrounded by dense wilderness. He was later reunited with his mother. Police said William was in good spirits and mostly in good health.

Footage captured from the rescue helicopter showed him shirtless and sunburned. He was wearing shorts and boots and had been using towels as makeshift blankets.

“I’m just over the moon that he’s alive,” his mother, Elizabeth, told reporters. The AP has chosen not to publish her surname to protect her son’s identity.

“And he’s never leaving the house again. He’s grounded for life. He’s not going anywhere ever again,” she added with a laugh.

William was subsequently taken to a hospital where his condition could be monitored, police said.

His family has said he has Level 2 autism, which requires “substantial support,” according to the Australian advocacy group Autism360.

People with this profile may experience marked difficulties in verbal and non-verbal social communication and often depend heavily on routines and predictable activities. Disruptions to that routine can cause considerable distress.

Spring weather in the Southern Hemisphere had been mild across the alpine region where William was lost, with little rainfall over the past week.

Elizabeth had dropped off her son and his friend last Friday for a weekend of camping. William walked a short distance from the campsite back to the drop-off point to gather more camping equipment but never returned to his friend, police said.

After becoming disoriented, William trekked for days across “some very steep terrain,” said Acting Police Inspector Jason Benbow.

He spent his final two days at the creek where he was eventually found, hemmed in by the steep surrounding slopes some 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from his campsite, Benbow explained.

“He woke up to the sound of the helicopter, gave them a thumbs up, and they winched him to safety,” Benbow told reporters.

The search operation drew more than 100 emergency services personnel and volunteers.

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