Backpacker's dad delighted to see son alive
- 00:01:42
- ITN
Backpacker's dad delighted to see son alive
A British backpacker has been found alive after going missing in the Australian bush for nearly two weeks. Jamie Neale, 19, from Muswell Hill, north London, was last seen on July 3 when he left his hostel in the town of Katoomba, New South Wales, for a walk in the Blue Mountains. New South Wales Police said in a statement: "About 11.30am today, two bushwalkers alerted emergency services to advise they had come across a man who identified himself as Jamie Neale near the Narrow Neck fire trail, near Katoomba. "Police Rescue officers, using a Rural Fire Service vehicle, made their way to the location and confirmed the identity of the man. He's been taken to Katoomba Hospital for treatment of dehydration and exposure." Mr Neale's father, Richard Cass, had been about to fly back to the UK when he heard the news his son had been found. He has now been reunited with him. Mr Cass said his son slept under a log and ate seeds, grass and some kind of lettuce as he waited to be found. Mr Cass said his son had been sure he was going to die and that he himself had finally given up hope as well. He said: "He's still a bit depressed, a bit dazed about what happened to him. "I thought he's probably fallen off a cliff. I'd had my little closure ceremony for him out there in the park. I'd lit a candle for him. "He said he was losing faith in the idea there was a God every time the helicopter flew over and he was waving and shouting and nothing happened. He thought he was going to die." He also expressed exasperation at him for being "the only teenager in the world" to go on an expedition like that without his mobile phone. Mr Neale's mother, Jean Neale, said she had not believed she was never going to see her son again. She said: "I never gave up hoping, I always knew he'd be coming home. He's determined and if he sets his mind to something, he will do it. "I told all the family and his friends that he was coming home and I had no doubts about that. That kept them strong and in turn that kept me strong." Her son had been tearful and exhausted when she talked to him on the phone, she said. "I spoke to him in hospital and he said he didn't think he'd ever see me again and he just wanted to hear my voice. He was nearly in tears. I told him 'you don't get rid of me that easily'." She said that as far as she knew, her son's disappearance had been simply due to him getting lost. A hospital spokeswoman said Mr Neale is in a stable condition at Katoomba's Blue Mountains Hospital. TV pictures showed him getting out of a police car unaided and walking towards the hospital door. Mr Neale arrived in Australia on June 22 and checked into a youth hostel in Katoomba on Thursday July 2. A check of his room at the hostel revealed he had not taken any of his belongings with him including his mobile phone and personal papers. He booked and paid for a tour of some nearby caves for the Saturday but never turned up. A check of his bank and email accounts confirmed they had not been touched since his disappearance.
ITN | July 15, 2009
