A mother and son have told their miracle story of surviving 10 days in the NSW wilderness after getting lost on what was supposed to be a two-hour bush walk.
Michelle Small and her nine-year-old son Dylan were following the signs in Mount Royal National Park when Michelle suddenly realised they’d veered off and were lost.
The pair spent the next 10 days desperately trying to find their way out of the bush and to survive – not having eaten since the morning they left home.
Speaking to Channel Seven’s Sunday Night, Michelle said they were forced to drink their own urine, after no signs of water for four days.
“I needed to find something, even if it is just for him, just enough for him to have just that moisture in his mouth,” Michelle said, revealing she learnt it was safe and possible to do so from watching Bear Grylls on his television show, Man vs Wild.
“I’m glad I paid attention when we were watching it because I remember him doing it and saying that you can,” she said.
“I said, ‘mummy will go first’, and I said, ‘you’ve got to keep thinking apple juice. Just think apple juice’.”
[The urine] tastes like salt water,” Michelle said. “Bear Grylls drank it four times and stayed alive for five days drinking that wee.”
Finally, after 10 days, Michelle and Dylan stumbled across a trail which led them out of the bush and to a road.
“We just looked at each other and we cried and hugged because I knew we were out,” Michelle said.
The pair then spent 11 days in hospital being treated for exhaustion, dehydration, tick and leech bites, scratches and rashes.
Their miracle survival caught the attention of Bear Grylls himself, who told Sunday Night: “You don’t have to be the biggest or the strongest, you’ve just got to be the smartest and the most tenacious.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
