Missing autistic teen used Scouts skills to survive + Rescued hiker fined over potatoes, naan bread

Explanation:

Missing autistic teen used Scouts skills to survive (First posted Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:04am AEDT Updated 5 hours 7 minutes ago) [abc.net.au]

Authorities in Western Australia say an autistic boy, who survived more than 28 hours missing in the bush, used his Boy Scouts training to stay hydrated.

Dennis Dear, 14, disappeared on a quad bike in bushland south-east of Perth on Sunday morning.

Authorities launched a full-scale air and land search, and grave fears were held for the 14-year-old's safety as temperatures in the area reached 42 degrees Celsius.

SES volunteers who found Dennis on Monday say he approached them and introduced himself and asked for a drink of water.

Incident controller Tony Colfer said Dennis appeared to be in good health, having used survival skills he learnt at Boy Scouts.

"He's drunk water from blackboys [grass trees] which obviously helped him," Mr Colfer said.

Dennis also covered himself in sand to keep cool.

The boy's father said he was incredibly relieved and proud of him.

"To go from being a humble backyard kid to somebody that survives out in the bush, it's like: can we all learn that please?"

Dennis was taken to hospital to undergo health checks.

Please visit the website out of diplomacy and respect as I have quoted the entire short article and I apologize as that could not be helped!




[note: same image as embedded above]



Related News Article: Missing quad bike teenager found alive- airlifted to hospital (PerthNow December 31, 2012 10:00 PM) [news.com.au]

However ...

Rescued hiker fined over potatoes, naan bread (First posted Sun Dec 30, 2012 6:52pm AEDT Updated Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:05am AEDT) [abc.net.au]

A man has been fined for not preparing adequately before setting out on a three-day trek in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

Police say the 29-year-old only had a kilo of potatoes and a naan bread in his backpack when he left for the walk on Wednesday afternoon.

The man, from Victoria, failed to show up at his destination three nights later.

A search involving two helicopters and volunteer rescue workers was launched on Saturday afternoon.

Four hours after it began, the man was found and winched to safety from the Wolgan Valley.

He was found to have a minor ankle injury but declined treatment.

He was taken to Katoomba Police Station and issued with a $500 fine.

Inspector Brenton Charlton from the NSW Police Rescue Force says the man was fined for for putting his own safety, and the safety of others, at risk.

"When the man set out he had with him a kilo of potatoes and naan bread," he said.

"We believed the 29-year-old placed himself and the search teams at risk through his lack of planning and preparation, and through carrying inadequate provisions."

Police also allege his intended route, through remote terrain, would have been extremely difficult to complete safely.

They say it would have taken much longer than the man had estimated.

Personal Disclosure: I bring theses articles to the survival forums for obvious reasons and I am very interested to read what my fellow ATS members have to say about them.

IMO ...

In the 1st case it shows that we possibly coddle the kids .. even the disabled ones ... a bit too much!

People are smarter and more resiliant than the MSM portrays us all to be!

And in the 2nd case it seems that no matter what age or ability one has ... poor planning is the prime reason people die!

In New Zealand there are alot of kid sports that don't keep scores, in fear the loser will have hurt feelings. Wrapped in cotton wool.
I think the dude charged for being useless is fair enough. He made a choice to get into the rescue helicopter.

Not sure what the point of this is.
The first one was a kid who got lost and "survived" a little over a day and the second one is about a guy who couldn't complete his hike. The whole "fined over potatoes" was just slapped on there and is kind of misleading.