Sydney: A 5-year-old boy and his 7-year-old brother were recovering in an Australian hospital on Monday after surviving with their father for 10 days in the wilderness with little food and in weather conditions that ranged from stormy to scorching.
Their ordeal began on December 11 when Steven Van Lonkhuyzen took a wrong turn during a family trip and then got his four-wheel-drive vehicle bogged in mud. The family was rescued on Sunday after farmer Tom Wagner found them in the remote Expedition National Park.
“They were pretty hungry by the time I got to them, and pretty happy to see me,” Wagner said.
He said the younger boy, Timothy, kept asking him if he had any eggs, while the older one, Ethan, appeared dehydrated. He said the father had given the limited food he had to his sons, who had gone with little or nothing to eat.
“Luckily it rained,” he said. “Otherwise they would have perished.”
Police said, Van Lonkhuyzen had planned to drive from his home in Brisbane to Cairns using an inland route. “Quite simply, he took a wrong turn,” police said.
