Backpacker Carolina Wilga rescued from Australian Outback in WA returns to Germany after 12-day survival ordeal

7NEWS

5 days ago

Backpacker Carolina Wilga, who was lost in the Australian outback for 12 days, has returned home to Germany.
The 26-year-old student from Castrop-Rauxel, North Rhine-Westphalia, landed in Düsseldorf on Saturday at 1.31 pm after the more than 20-hour flight from Perth via Dubai, according to German newspaper BILD.
She flew business class on an Emirates A380, escorted throughout the long-haul flight by medics as a precaution following her dramatic survival ordeal in the WA outback.
Wilga was immediately transferred from the airport in a civilian ambulance to the Evangelical Hospital in Castrop-Rauxel as a precaution, local newspapers reported.
Her familiar orange trekking backpack, which she had carried with her when she travelled around Australia, was seen being brought in.
Vanished without a trace
Wilga made international headlines after surviving 12 days lost and alone in WA 's Wheatbelt when her car became bogged in harsh bushland.
On June 29, she was last seen at a small supermarket in regional Western Australia.
Her damaged van was discovered abandoned in thick bush on July 10 near the Karroun Hill Nature Reserve.
Despite having supplies in the vehicle — food, water, and clothes — Carolina was nowhere to be found.
A massive search was launched across remote bushland. People in Germany and Australia followed the case, with concerns growing as days stretched into weeks.
Twelve days in the wilderness
Wilga had wandered into the bush after crashing her vehicle.
'Some may wonder why I left the car, even though I had food and water,' she later said from her hospital bed.
'I lost control of the car and rolled down an embankment. I hit my head pretty badly during the crash.'
Disoriented and injured, she spent 12 days alone in the outback drinking from puddles, sleeping in caves, and fending off biting insects and freezing nights.
She lost 12 kilograms and suffered burns, a foot injury, and severe dehydration.
On July 11, cattle farmer Tania Henley spotted the barefoot young woman at the side of a dirt road, 24 km from her abandoned van.
She was flown to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, where she received treatment and made a steady recovery before flying out of the country under medical supervision.
A quiet return
Now back in her hometown, Wilga is recovering in hospital, surrounded by family.
'I'm incredibly grateful to be alive,' she said in a previous statement.
'Western Australia showed me what it means to be part of a real community.'