‘Miracle’ rescue for lost hikers
TWO New Zealanders lost in a remote South Island national park say they survived the last 13 days without food before a “miraculous” rescue.
Takaka locals Dion Reynolds and Jessica O’Connor, both 23, were discovered 19 days after starting a bushwalk in Kahurangi National Park then hunkering down after becoming disorientated in fog.
Dozens of volunteers, a police dog squad, helicopters and drones were used in a massive search operation.
They were finally found and winched to safety on Wednesday when a search helicopter spotted smoke from a fire they had lit.
“We were very lost,” Mr Reynolds told Radio NZ, blaming heavy fog for becoming disorientated in heavy bush.
Mr Reynolds sprained an ankle halfway through the ordeal, while Ms O’Connor also suffered a minor back sprain that caused them to “wait out their injuries”. “It was 13 days with no food. The saving grace was the fact that a two-minute walk across the gully was a fresh mossy stream with freshwater for us to drink,” he said.