An Australian woman survived for five days in the Australian bushland on candy and a bottle of wine, authorities reported Friday.
Victoria Police Air Wing was notified that a 48-year-old Lillian Ip had disappeared when she didn’t contact loved ones on April 30th, police said in a news release.
“I thought I was going to die there. My whole body shut down on Friday,” Ip told News Australia. She added that she “was about to give up”. (RELATED: Mom Saves Children From Swarm Of Bees During Photo Shoot, Suffers 75 Stings)
“She was only planning a short-day trip so had only taken a couple of snacks and lollies with her but no water,” Wodonga Police Station Sergeant Martin Torpey said in a news release. “The only liquid Lillian, who doesn’t drink, had with her was a bottle of wine she had bought as a gift for her mother so that got her through.”
A Cheltenham woman stranded for five days in Victoria’s High Country says she was convinced she was about to die.
Lillian Ip survived on nothing but a fruit box and a bottle of wine until help from above arrived. @ajhegarty9 #9News pic.twitter.com/Ify28Y1DcL
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) May 7, 2023
After emergency services failed to locate Ip, Air Wing spotted her car at the end of a dirt road. “While she couldn’t move her car, she was able to use the heater overnight to give her some warmth,” Torpey said. Police then transported her to the hospital to treat her for dehydration.
Ip’s car got stuck in the mud and she didn’t have service to call for help. “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,” said Torpey in a news release.
Police said Ip was very relieved to see police after five days in the wilderness. “The first thing coming in my mind, I was thinking ‘water and a cigarette,'” Ip told News Australia. “Thank god the policewoman had a cigarette.”