William Callaghan captured the hearts of the nation last week, after the teen, who has non-verbal autism, was found safe and well 47 hours after he went missing during a hike with family members on Monday, June 8.
Volunteers and emergency services conducted a three-day search of Victoria’s Mount Disappointment, with temperatures plummeting to below zero, before Will was finally located by an SES volunteer in thick bush. Now Will’s mum Penny has revealed how the teen survived during the gruelling ordeal.
“He is constantly on the move, remember, he is very fit, he is used to being out in the cold, he likes being outside all the time, regardless of the temperature. It’s almost as though he can’t feel it,” she told Channel 10 show the Project on Tuesday.
“I knew he would be able to find water, a way to drink, because he, unlike neurotypical children, he will just drink from a puddle, not seeing anything wrong with that. In the wilderness, that’s perfectly fine and that’s probably what got him through.”
Penny also admitted to host Waleed Aly that she did fear the worst after Will spent two nights alone on the mountain, even revealing that the fear Will may have been abducted crossed her mind. She said: “I just really didn’t think he would get through a second night. I begged the parks people to find him.”
"I’m immensely moved because it means there are people in the community that do care and want to make a difference, his life was at stake and here they are all these people wanting to protect him." pic.twitter.com/hJeeYkxU6q
— The Project (@theprojecttv) June 16, 2020
Despite the ordeal though, Will is back at home and recovering well both emotionally and physically. “He has been affected by it, definitely. He’s very happy to be home … He often is that way when he has been distressed,” his mum told the program.
Penny added: “He has remarkable resilience, not because of the sensory issues so much, just willingness to keep going. His affinity for the natural world is there and always has been, he just loves being outside. Bringing him inside is difficult.
“If it was me out there in that situation I probably wouldn’t have survived … Clearly he demonstrated that he could do it. He’s different to the smarts we’re used to and how they’re measured in our society but he shows us every day ways in which he is smart in his own way.”
It comes after Will’s stepfather Nathan Ezard revealed the first thing the teenager did upon his return home last week. “He was straight through the gate and the first thing he did was sit down on his swing set have a big long swing,” he told the Today show on Friday. Penny had to literally drag him inside out of the cold.”
Nathan added: “Will’s come out of this experience with a few cuts and bruises on the bottom of his feet. Surprisingly few for a kid who wandered around for two days in the freezing cold.”
Australia rejoiced last Wednesday when the news broke that the missing teenager had been found on Victoria’s Mount Disappointment. Hundreds of volunteers and emergency first responders took part in the three-day rescue effort to find Will, with Victoria Police also adopting some more unusual techniques, including asking locals to barbecue onions and bacon in the hope of drawing Will in, and playing the Thomas the Tank Engine theme tune via loud speaker.
Will was finally located by SES volunteer Ben Gibbs just before 1pm on Wednesday, June 10.
Proudly Australian owned and operated