Missing Tasmanian walker Andrew Gaskell feared he ‘wouldn’t make his 26th birthday’ amid two-week ordeal in Malaysian jungle

RESCUED Tasmanian hiker Andrew Gaskell says he is deeply sorry for all the trouble he caused.

RESCUED Tasmanian hiker Andrew Gaskell says he is deeply sorry for all the trouble he caused.

The 25-year-old was found emaciated and covered in leeches on Tuesday, after disappearing two weeks ago in a Malaysian jungle.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Gaskell, said he did not have permission to be on the Mount Mulu trail in Mulu National Park and should have been accompanied by a guide.

“Had I followed correct park rules I would have avoided this incident completely,” he wrote.

Mr Gaskell also thanked Marudi police and others involved in the search.

Mr Gaskell’s mother Elizabeth, right, said her son owed his life to a collection of jungle food, prayers from home and a marvellous rescue team.

Mrs Gaskell said she was extremely grateful to the search and rescue team who found her son alive after two weeks missing in remote Malaysian wilderness.

“I am praising God for Andrew’s delivery and extremely thankful to all the people on the ground who put in that massive effort,” she said from her home in Howrah.

Mrs Gaskell said she understood her son survived on berries, ferns and a couple of bananas.

Whatever sustenance the jungle provided, Mrs Gaskell said it was being supplemented by a lot of prayers from Tasmania.

Mrs Gaskell said she always believed her son was alive, and the congregation at Abundant Life Church Lauderdale had been praying for his safety.

A happy and relieved Elizabeth Gaskell, the mother of Andrew Gaskell, at home in Hobart. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Mr Gaskell was in a stable condition in Sarawak’s Miri hospital yesterday, being treated for dehydration and injuries to his feet and toes.

Speaking to ABC Radio from his hospital bed, Mr Gaskell said he feared for his life while lost in the jungle.

“By the end of it I was quite concerned I wouldn’t make my 26th birthday,” he said.

He said he survived the past few days by eating wild ferns in the jungle and “plenty of water”.

Mr Gaskell said he became lost after descending a mountain at sunset into bushland where there were a lot of different trails and creeks.

“I ended up spending that whole night just wandering.”

Miri Hospital staff said he was being treated for dehydration and nutritional problems.

“He is stable and doing well,” a hospital spokesman said.

Mrs Gaskell said the money raised through a crowd-funding campaign, to help with the search, would now be donated to Malaysia.

“We’d like to give it to the people over there in some way, we don’t want it ourselves, I mean we don’t need it, and we figure that they’ve put in all that effort and they should get the money,” she said.

The campaign has raised more than $7000 in only two days.

Andrew Gaskell and his rescuers give the thumbs up while the Tasmanian backpacker is being transported to hospital. Picture: SARAWAK FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENT

Tasmanian Andrew Gaskell being taken to safety on a Bomba M17 to Mulu airport. Picture: SARAWAK FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENT

Originally published as Missing Tasmanian walker Andrew Gaskell feared he ‘wouldn’t make his 26th birthday’ amid two-week ordeal in Malaysian jungle