Woman Rescued After Surviving 5 Days In Australian Wilderness On Wine & Lollipops

A woman has been rescued after surviving the Australian wilderness for nearly a week on just wine and lollipops.

On Friday, Victoria police tweeted aerial footage of the moment they found a 48-year-old identified only as Lillian days after loved ones became worried that she’d failed to call and check in. The video shows Lillian waving to the aircraft’s camera before officers arrived on foot to escort her to safety.

See the moment Air Wing located a woman, who was missing for five days in dense bushland.

Yesterday afternoon, Air Wing were conducting a sweep of the hilly terrain when they spotted Lillian’s car at the end of a dirt road in the Mitta Mitta bushland.

🔗 https://t.co/dgjOkkgdY0 pic.twitter.com/DwbaJHLUMn

— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) May 6, 2023

Lillian’s car became stuck in the mud when she attempted to turn around at a dead end, police said, and she’d only packed “a couple of snacks and lollies with her but no water” because she was just planning for a day trip.

After a law enforcement helicopter spotted her car, a police van was instructed to head to the area where Lillian was located and taken to a hospital for observation and treatment for dehydration.

“Lillian was found a good 60 kilometers away from the nearest town, and due to health issues, she was unable to try and walk for help, so stayed with her car,” Wodonga Police Station Sergeant Martin Torpey said in an official statement on the Victoria police website. “The only liquid Lillian, who doesn’t drink, had with her was a bottle of wine she had bought as a gift for her mother so that got her through.”

The release went on to note that Lillian had “great common sense to stay with her car and not wander off into the bushland,” which helped police find her more quickly.

“After being lost in the bush for five days, she was extremely relieved and grateful to see us and we were just as happy to see her,” Torpey added.

— Erin Biglow