Australians are nothing if not resourceful. Just ask the woman who was rescued by Wodonga police in the southern state of Victoria after wandering lost and alone in bushland for five days.
The disorientated 48-year-old — identified only by her first name Lillian — told emergency services she was lucky enough to have a bottle of wine on her person and some lollipops when she entered the bush after becoming lost in her car.
She later returned to the vehicle.
Upon rescue she revealed the first thing she wanted was “water and a cigarette.” Luckily a resourceful policewoman was able to supply the latter on the spot.
Police say Lillian’s loved ones called police last week when she didn’t make her daily call to check in with them, the BBC reports.
Emergency services made extensive searches of the region over the past week but were unable to find any sign of her until a helicopter was deployed and found her.
“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. “She used great common sense to stay with her car and not wander off into bushland, which assisted in police being able to find her.”
“The first thing coming in my mind, I was thinking ‘water and a cigarette,'” the rescued lady told 9News Australia. “Thank god the policewoman had a cigarette.”
“I thought I was going to die there. My whole body shut down on Friday,” she said, adding she “was about to give up.”
As she lost hope of being found alive, Lillian said she wrote a letter to her family saying she loved them.
The victim was taken to hospital after her ordeal but has since been released.