A BUSHWALKER given up for dead emerged hungry and disorientated today after wandering lost for five weeks in Tasmania’s rugged southern wilderness.
Police and searchers had given up hope of finding Victorian Benjamin Maloney, 27, who set off on a 12-day trek through Tasmania’s South-West National Park on March 15.
Police called off the search for Mr Maloney on April 2 in wet and cold weather. But Mr Maloney, from Geelong, was found this morning by campers who said he appeared to be in good health, although disorientated. Ragged-looking and appearing to have lost track of time, he told them he had not eaten for 14 days. Asked later how he had managed his miraculous survival, he simply stated: "I wanted to survive."
Campers Marcus and Joey Hamilton said a gaunt Mr Maloney wandered into their camp at South Cape Rivulet at 9am. They then walked with him for more than six hours to Cockle Creek, the last point for road vehicles at the start of the South Coast Track, then drove him to Lune River where he was met by police. Tonight he was taken to Royal Hobart Hospital. Police said he was lucky to be alive.
"He said he had stumbled onto the South Coast Track sometime yesterday, and was heading back to Cockle Creek," Mr Hamilton said.
"Myself and my wife walked back to our car with him. It’s normally a four-hour walk, it took about six hours. "We fed him, and chatted, and established who he was," he said. "He didn’t really have a clue how long he’d been away, he’d lost all sense of time. "He said he hadn’t eaten for 14 days," he said.
As he was transferred to an ambulance in Dover tonight, Mr Maloney briefly spoke to reporters with a message for his family. "I love you," he said.
His first call to a sister in Nowra was dismissed as a hoax, but another sister, Rosie Murtagh, said the family had received confirmation of his safety.
"We’re ecstatic, we haven’t spoken to him but he is on his way to Hobart Hospital," she told AAP.
"He rang my sister in Nowra and said he was alright, it’s fantastic," she said. Mr Maloney was reported overdue on March 28 and an extensive search of the area conducted by about 20 police, State Emergency Service personnel and Hobart Walking Club volunteers failed to produce any sign of the missing walker.
An aerial reconnaissance also failed to find any trace of the missing man and the search was called off on April 2.
The full extent of Mr Maloney’s condition will not be known until a thorough medical examination is completed at Royal Hobart Hospital, where it is expected he will arrive later tonight. Mr Maloney had been in the army and had some bush skills, but he was inexperienced in Tasmanian conditions and was believed to be poorly equipped when he set off.
Police said the Victorian was not carrying a map, compass or distress beacon and there were doubts that he had enough warm gear for the conditions, which deteriorated with wet and cold weather during the search period.