German backpacker Carolina Wilga reveals incredible Australian outback survival story
German backpacker Carolina Wilga has shared her harrowing story of surviving 11 days lost in the Western Australian outback. After crashing her van, she wandered into the wilderness before being rescued by a local farmer.
Why it matters
The story highlights the extreme dangers of the Australian outback and serves as a cautionary tale for travelers in remote regions.
Lost in Western Australia's harsh outback, Carolina Wilga dragged herself on metre by metre, fearing she would die as she fought dizziness, a desperate thirst and the dry scrub relentlessly tearing at her body.
The German backpacker has now revealed how she survived 11 nights in freezing conditions, chewing on leaves, plant stems and flowers and sipping water from puddles before being found limping, sunburnt and barefoot by farmer Tania Henley on a remote road.
She has also explained how she crashed her van in a nature reserve, driving through a fence, smashing into a rock, and slamming her head against the side window.
Wilga has just published a book of her extraordinary ordeal called Escaping the Outback: My Fight for Survival in the Australian Wilderness .
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