Station owner relives miracle in WA outback a year on from backpacker’s rescue
A year after her extraordinary rescue, new details have emerged about the harrowing ordeal German backpacker Carolina Wilga endured in the Western Australian outback.
Wilga was exposed to freezing temperatures after her van suffered mechanical problems and was lost for 11 nights in the state’s Wheatbelt, before being rescued by Tania Henley, who came across her on her way back to Bimbijy Station after a shopping trip.
Now, a year after Wilga’s rescue, Henley has revealed more details of the backpacker’s experience; these include freezing, a book deal and a thank you from around the world.
In an interview with 9News PerthHenley recalled the moment he came across Wilga on the side of Mouroubra Road, near where she disappeared on Karroun Hill.
“There he was on his way, that’s how he went [Henley waves her hands]he said.
“So I thought he was dead, and he thought he was going to die.”
The 26-year-old woman’s survival story made international headlines with the now-famous video of her boarding a police jet.
WA Police Detective Jessica Securo led the search with more than 100 officers dealing with the case, facing difficult conditions in remote WA.
Security footage of Wilga’s last known movements was shared across the country; In the first glimmer of hope, his battered van was found sunk.
“As time went on, concerns for his safety increased and sometimes one wondered if we would ever find him alive,” Securo said. 9News Perth.
A day later, as Henley rounded the corner, the backpacker came across the Mouroubra Trail; It was “unusually” full of snacks.
“He said, ‘I saw there was a lady who was going to give me an apple.’ How do you get around that?” Henley remembered.
The two drove an hour to emergency crews who were on standby, but Henley said they didn’t have time to say “thank you” or goodbye.
But months after she was found, Wilga thanked her rescuer in a text message.
“He said it was 12 degrees, raining, no snow, and it felt like winter in Australia… I think that’s half the reason he survived so well,” Henley said.
Although Fiona spent six days in Stanley Hospital ravaged by mosquito bites, the extent of her injuries remained unclear until she revealed it to Henley.
“He had frostbite on his feet, and when I found him, one of his feet…was wrapped in his scarf,” she said.
The small Wheatbelt town has been thrust into the spotlight after Wilga was found alive, and now the German backpacker has reportedly been offered a publishing deal.
Henley said he hopes to reunite with Wilga at some point in the future.
“Finding it changed my life, for better or worse, and maybe my perspective on life,” he said.
