Seventeen-year-old William vanished on a rural Victorian camping trip on November 6, sparking a six-day emergency search before pilots spotted him alive in the bushland.
The teenager, known as Will, survived on a single packet of crisps and stream water after sliding down a cliff and becoming trapped in remote terrain near Walhalla, The Age reported. More than 100 emergency services personnel and volunteers combed the rugged area between Cowwarr and Walhalla, roughly 110 miles east of Melbourne, utilizing police planes and helicopters.
The breakthrough came on Thursday when police pilots scanning the Cowwarr area spotted a fishing tackle box from the air. Operating the aircraft’s camera, flight officers zoomed in on the object and discovered Will lying nearby in a creek bed.
Officers winched down from the aircraft to the 17-year-old and hoisted him aboard the plane. He was then flown to a command post, where he was immediately reunited with his mother, Elizabeth Barkley.
Video footage shared by Victoria Police captured the moment the helicopter touched down and Barkley embraced her son in a long, teary greeting. Medical checks at a hospital subsequently showed Will had escaped his ordeal with only sunburn and scratches.
“They came in and told me, and I waited outside until the helicopter landed, and I saw him wave as he came out,” Barkley told Daily Mirror.
“I never gave up hope, I knew in my heart he was still alive, and I just prayed to God for a miracle, and a miracle happened. So as soon as that helicopter landed, and they got him off, I gave him the biggest hug.”
Barkley later joked that her son is “grounded for life” and that she will “never let him leave my sight again” once medical staff discharge him.
Will became lost shortly after his mother dropped him off at the campground last Friday, November 6, when he walked to another part of the site to retrieve camping equipment and failed to return. A companion searched the vicinity that evening but could not locate him.
Barkley explained that her son missed a gap in a cliff edge and slid down, leaving his legs too sore to climb back out. He used towels to stay warm during the cold nights, drank water from a nearby stream, and rationed his crisps while waiting for rescue.
