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Backpacker backlash as boy's father denies bush ordeal was a hoax
Frank Thorne in Sydney and Kiran Randhawa16.07.09
The family of London backpacker Jamie Neale today angrily hit back at claims generated by the Australian media that his miracle survival is a hoax.
Jamie Neale emerged gaunt and scratched but in relatively good health after spending 12 days lost in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, in New South Wales.
But some have questioned his incredible tale of survival, suggesting the ordeal was a money-making scam after celebrity agents said the 19-year-old from Muswell Hill could pocket up to £500,000 for his story. His father,
Richard Cass, insisted the claims were untrue and said he will give any money raised to the rescue organisations who searched for his son and the Blue Mountains Hospital at Katoomba that is caring for him.
“My boy's no hoaxer. If you want to give me a cheque, it's got to go to the Blue Mountains Rescue Service or the Anzac Hospital,” he told Australia's Seven Network. “I don't want any of this. I do not seek publicity. I don't want to be part of a celebrity culture.
“I just want my boy back and that's worth a million dollars to me.”
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Police have said they have no reason to question the teenager's account. They say doctors believe he is suffering injuries consistent with being lost in the bush for an extended period.
Superintendent Anthony McWhirter said: “The incredible is always hard to believe. But we've had survivors that have survived a lot longer without food and water, in earthquake zones with people pulled out from under rubble. It's incredible, but it's true.”
Rescue experts said although Jamie, who is due to study government and politics at Exeter University in October, made a number of mistakes which could have cost him his life, he also stuck to basic survival techniques.
Superintendent McWhirter said Jamie's euphoric mood at being rescued had gone from relief to recrimination to hunger and “awe that he's been rescued and he's alive”.
He added that Jamie's day walk of 10km to the lookout known as the Ruined Castle and a further 6km to Mount Solitary and back to Katoomba town in the dark was his big mistake.
Doctors said Jamie's condition was stable but he will not be allowed to leave hospital until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. He is being treated for exposure and dehydration. The gap-year student, who survived on berries and leaves for 12 days, asked for a hamburger as his first meal following his rescue.
Mr Cass, a teacher from Watford, said his son, who he described as being “depressed” after his ordeal, was yet to crack a smile.
He added: “He's been to hell and back. You'd think he'd be happy ... maybe he's a bit fragile. It's difficult to take in and know what to do.”
