Missing boy William Callaghan found after going missing at Mt Disappointment
After 46 hours alone in freezing conditions and dense bushland at Mt Disappointment, a hungry William Callaghan was found by dedicated rescuer, who has revealed just how his “gut feeling” led to the miracle discovery.
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There were tears of joy and relief as William Callaghan was found alive and well after going missing on Monday in thick bushland at Mt Disappointment, north of Melbourne.
He was found standing up in the bush by local Ben Gibbs, 20 minutes off the main track to the 800m summit.
Mr Gibbs is being lauded as a hero. He described the moment he spotted the 14-year-old autistic boy, who is non-verbal, as “angelic”.
“The reunion with the family was so happy,” he said.
“It was really angelic, (him) just standing there.”
Mr Gibbs, a father himself, said he joined the hundreds of volunteers and emergency crews in the desperate search because he had a gut feeling about the rescue mission.
He came alone, was on foot and didn’t register his details with the police.
“It was a surprise, you know when you feel like you might find him, Mr Gibbs said.
“This is kind of my family mountain. I’ve been going here since I was a boy.
“I saw where the (search and rescue) guys had tagged, where they searched previously and I went a bit deeper than that.
“It wasn’t too far down (the summit), about 20 minutes from the main track.
“I was just wandering through the bush, it was quite thick, just breaking my way through it, he was just another 15m just standing there.
“Everyone combed the main line, I just went deeper.”
Mr Gibbs had followed reports William was an avid fan of Thomas the Tank Engine so started talking about diesel trains.
“He was singing about diesel,” Mr Gibbs said.
“I was trying to relax him, I guess.
“He looked in reasonable health, he wasn’t shivering too bad.
“He didn’t have socks on so I put some socks on him and a jacket and gave him some chocolate.
“He didn’t seem bothered by me.”
Mr Gibbs said he eventually got phone reception and called in the good news.
“I tried to make a call and eventually got a signal,” said.
“He was just happy to get the chocolate.
“He just ate it. He wasn’t super expressive but he was very peaceful.
“After he ate half the chocolate bar, I carried him out.”
William was carried by his mother, Penny Callaghan, and her partner, Nathan Ezard, from the car to the paramedic station for treatment.
One of his first requests after the 46-hour ordeal was a meal at McDonald’s.
Inspector Christine Lalor described the discovery as an “amazing result” for all involved.
“What an amazing community,” Insp Lalor said.
“It just goes to show what can happen when everyone pulls together as a team.
“Best outcome we could hope for. Great result. We hadn’t lost hope.
“William has been taken to hospital for observation. He is alert, warm, eating and drinking. “He actually asked for McDonald’s.”
The crowd of volunteers at the staging point was told not to applaud when the boy arrived.
His family and friends were seen embracing upon hearing the news, some with tears in their eyes.
William’s mum said she “didn’t believe” it when she was told the news her son was alive.
“I’m immensely relieved,” Ms Callaghan said.
“I am really overwhelmed. He is as well as can be expected under the circumstances.
“He is quite calm considering. I can’t imagine what he has been feeling.
“He’s just so special.
“More than anything, thank you everyone. I’m so grateful, you’re all amazing. What an amazing community.”
Ms Callaghan left in an ambulance with her son, and was taken to the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne for a checkover.
His doctors said he had only suffered a couple of superficial abrasions on his feet.
“He is in reasonably good spirits,” emergency registrar Dani Bersin said.
“Given his age, he has done remarkable well, things could have been a lot worse.
“He is looking pretty good. It is quite incredible to survive the elements in the cold.
“He has come up relatively unscathed, from the cold. It is a fantastic result.”
William will head home this evening.
At his request, William stopped at McDonald’s on the way to the hospital to get some “salty food”.
When things get back to normal, she looks forward to taking him on a holiday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked all those who helped find William and another missing boy in NSW.
“Very relieved to hear both the missing boys from Victoria and NSW have been found,” Mr Morrison said.
“I’m sure this is a great relief to their families.
“A huge thank you to all those involved in the search efforts over the past few days.”
It came several hours after William’s desperate mother issued a tearful plea for help.
MUM’S PLEA AMID DESPERATE HOPES FOR WILLIAM
Ms Callaghan earlier said her family was “desperately hoping he will be found today”.
“I’m feeling positive because he is quite resilient,” Ms Callaghan said at an emotional press conference about an hour before he was found.
“Will is loved by everyone who comes across him. He’s got the most amazing smile.
“He’s a very beautiful person, he wouldn’t harm a fly. He is very gentle.
“I’m not really the praying type but I’m praying because I want him home.”
Ms Callaghan said although her son was fit and active, she was worried as he had been lost for close to 48 hours.
“He’s never spent a night outside by himself, he’s never been camping,” she said.
“This exposure will be tough.”
Police asked locals to open any windows and doors if they were cooking, in the hope William would be drawn to the smell of food.
Residents were also urged to put out blankets, water, Vegemite, feta cheese and peanut butter on their verandas or outside their home.
Anyone who saw the “shy, timid” boy was urged to put the food down and gesture to him, before backing away.
“I think he’s gonna be pretty hungry and scared, so food is gonna be a main driver for him at this point,” Ms Callaghan said.
“And he will be seeking food. He loves his food, so … he’s not gonna shy away from approaching someone for food.
“He won’t ask them … he’s non-verbal, so he might just try and grab it. Or he might grab them by the hand and try and lead them somewhere to say, ‘take me’, but he won’t be able to say that.”
Anyone who spotted William was encouraged not to be too forward with him, and to use slow movements.
“Not too much direct eye contact, but also trying to engage with him a little bit as well. Not too many words,” Ms Callaghan said.
“He does respond although he doesn’t have any expressive language — he knows a little bit, when you talk to him like you might say, “get in the car now, Will,” and he will … but keep it simple and be gentle. He doesn’t like really loud noises, so that includes people yelling.”
While Will’s autism meant he doesn’t like hugs, Ms Callaghan said she was looking forward to simply seeing her son.
“Sometimes being a mum of an autistic child is really tough … Will is my eldest son and he would be considered, I guess, very low-functioning. He has an intellectual disability and he’s very smart in his own way,” Ms Callaghan said.
“I’m feeling positive because he’s quite resilient. He is very skinny. You know, he doesn’t have much padding on him, but he eats all the time, he’s always on the move.
“He’s very active, so he’s quite fit. He’s not a great sleeper, so that may not be good for him in this instance. As a mum, it’s tough when I’m trying to sleep and he isn’t.
“But having said that, I lose so many hours’ sleep just to have him back with me. He’s such a beautiful person. He wouldn’t harm a fly. He’s very gentle.”
More than 450 people, including an army of volunteers, combed rugged terrain surrounding the summit of Mt Disappointment, 60km north of Melbourne, with police putting “every available resource” into the effort.
Police and family were last night holding out hope the autistic teen was sheltering inside a building or hiding in the bush.
The Thomas the Tank Engine theme was this morning played over three loudspeakers in the area, in an attempt to encourage William to come out of the bush.
William’s care worker Damian Beasley told the Herald Sun Thomas the Tank Engine was the boy’s favourite show.
Temperatures in the area were not as cold as initially expected last night, giving some relief to search efforts after the freezing conditions on Monday night.
It was about 6C on the summit where William was last seen but it may have dipped to zero in the surrounding valleys.
William was on a long weekend camping trip with his dad, Phil, and younger brother, Robin, when he ran off.
He was last seen 1.5km south of the Mt Disappointment summit, on Road 1.
“When we have someone out lost in the bush, we are fighting against time,” Senior Sergeant Greg Paul said during the search.
“It can take a long time to find someone if they are lost in this terrain.
“We all have limitations, this time of year especially. There is no sugar coating it, it is life-threateningly cold.”
Family friend Damian Beasley said William “loves being outside”.
“He would have got immersed in being out here and forgotten where he was,” Mr Beasley said.
“I’ve always called him jungle boy. He is a really calm sort of a soul.”
Bush in the area is dense due to regrowth after the Black Saturday bushfires.
HUGE TURNOUT FOR SEARCH
Julie Cowan, founder of Search Rescue Dogs Australia, joined the search today with four Labrador dogs at the request of Victoria Police.
“One dog is equivalent to 40 humans,” Ms Cowan said.
“We can send the dogs into the bush.
“They alert us with a bark if they find something. If there’s nothing, there we move on.”
Kilmore resident Corbin Mundy joined the search on horseback.
“If that happened to me or my brother, I’d like someone to look for me,” he said.
“The horses are good at covering country. They can go all day.”
Crews from the police search and rescue squad, air wing, canine and motorbike units and the mounted brigade, the SES, CFA and bush search and rescue were all involved in the search.
An additional checkpoint was set up this morning to avoid the main thoroughfare to the staging point after authorities were inundated with volunteers yesterday.
Police were forced to turn people around in the area to avoid traffic chaos and allow essential emergency services vehicles in.
A federal aircraft from Canberra with thermal imaging equipment arrived last night to join the search.
William is a student at Hamlyn Views school in Geelong, with one of his schoolteachers yesterday joining the search.
Police doorknocked “many” properties in the area while searching over the past days.
The teen’s disappearance triggered memories of the Luke Shambrook search.
Rachel Shambrook, Luke’s mother, said losing him in the bush at Lake Eildon in 2015 sent them on a “horrendous rollercoaster of emotion”.
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