Jamie Neale who had been missing for more than a week in the wilderness of the Blue Mountains, NSW was found earlier this morning.
His father, Richard Cass, who flew from North London to help the search was at the airport waiting to fly back home when he received news via a text message that his son had been found.
Richard Cass with his son Jamie Neale at the Blue Mountains District ANZAC Memorial Hospital. Picture: Dean Lewins
“I was surrounded by strangers in the airport, but I let out a big shout: They’ve found my boy, they’ve found my boy,” he said.
Mr Cass has quashed rumours that Jamie’s ordeal was an elaborate hoax telling the seven network, “Look, if you want to give a cheque it’s got to go to the Blue Mountains Rescue Service or the Anzac hospital.”
Mr Cass, a delighted and relieved father, added “he must be the only teenager in the world who goes for a ten mile hike without his mobile phone.”
“When I hear about all the mistakes he made, like not signing the register and not taking an emergency beacon, I can’t say I’ll kill him, that would defeat the purpose, but I will kick his arse.”
According to the Telegraph, twelve days is the longest anyone has survived after becoming lost in the 2.5 million acres that make up the Blue Mountains, a beautiful but rugged area two hours west of Sydney that gets its name from the blue haze created by millions of eucalyptus trees.
In 2006, schoolboy David Iredale’s body was found after nine days. He had lost his path close Mount Solitary, in the same area where Jamie became disoriented, and died of dehydration and heatstroke.
Denis Clifford, assistant police commissioner who was involved in the search operation paid tribute to Jamie.
“This is a very rugged area where it is a fantastic effort to survive just a few days let alone 12 in such an environment. It is a miracle.”
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