Woman survives 5 days on wine and lollipops in Australia bushland
The stranded driver used her car heater overnight to stay warm as temperatures dipped into the 30s and 40s in the remote area.
A woman was rescued by police on road vehicles and in aircraft on May 5 after being stranded in her car for five days in Bright, Australia.
A 48-year-old woman who was stranded for five days in the dense bushland of Australia said she survived on only wine and lollipops.
The woman, identified as Lillian Ip from Cheltenham by authorities, was treated at a hospital for dehydration after she was rescued by Victoria Police on Thursday, May 4, 2023.
“She was only planning a short-day trip so she had only taken a couple of snacks and lollies with her, but no water,” said Sgt. Martin Torpey of the Wodonga police station. “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.”
Ip was headed to Dartmouth Dam in Bright, Victoria, by car last week when she took a wrong turn and ended up stuck in the mud, police said. With no cellphone service, she couldn’t call for help.
When she didn’t call her family on April 30, letting them know she had reached her destination, they became worried and soon notified the police. Emergency crews used helicopters and ground units to carry out “extensive searches” of the region over four days, police said.
A police helicopter located a woman who was stranded for five days in the Australian bushland in Victoria, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. (Victoria Police)
They were unable to locate Ip until Thursday when they conducted yet another sweep of the hilly terrain by helicopter and spotted Ip’s car at the end of a dirt road in the Mitta Mitta bushland – 37 miles from the nearest town, according to police.
Ip could be seen on a police video waving to get the attention of rescuers. The helicopter then directed a local police van to her location, “where she was located safe and well,” police said.
“While she couldn’t move her car, she was able to use the heater overnight to keep herself warm," Sgt. Torpey said.
The low temperature on Thursday was 36 degrees in Mitta Mitta, the coldest the area got while Ip was stranded out in the bushland, according to AccuWeather data. Temperatures had dipped into the 40s the four previous nights.
"I thought I was going to die there. My whole body shut down on Friday," Ip told 9News Australia, adding that she "was about to give up.”
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