The missing hiker Hadi Nazari was found by a group of fellow bushwalkers yesterday in Kosciuszko National Park. The people who spotted him are sharing their stories, telling the ABC of Hadi’s joy and tears after spending almost two weeks lost and alone.
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00:00Holding hands burnt by 13 days in the sun, Hadi Nazari's rescuers help him up the hill
00:11to safety. Cousins Josh and Jess Dart were in a party of passing hikers who finally spotted
00:18him.
00:18As we were approaching him we were like, who is this? Who could it be? Surely not.
00:24That morning I'd actually seen a poster of him in the National Park Office and I recognised
00:28his scarf because he was wearing it in the photo. And then when we were close enough
00:33to hear each other I was like, what's your name? And then he shouted out that his name
00:37was Hadi and I was like, oh my gosh, I think this is the guy.
00:41James Clark was the first to see him.
00:43He started yelling out for help. He started yelling, stay there. The first reaction was
00:48maybe, I don't know, exhaustion, happy exhaustion. He sort of, the fact that he's finally found
00:53someone.
00:53I said, you went missing on Boxing Day, right? And he's like, yeah, I've been out here for
00:57eight days. All I've eaten is two muesli bars. I showed him the calendar on my phone and
01:02I was like, it's the 8th of January, you've been out here for 13 days. And we both burst
01:07into tears and hugged each other.
01:10The news quickly reached his worried family in Melbourne.
01:13He called us straight away and he said that, I'm found, I'm alive. And we were like, on
01:20the moon, very happy, very grateful. Happiest moment of my life, literally.
01:25After his rescue, the 23-year-old was taken to Cooma Hospital where he was treated for
01:29dehydration and enjoyed his first proper meal in a fortnight.
01:33He had a sandwich last night and a few Powerades and he was excited to eat.
01:41He's doing well, he's recovering. Obviously he's dehydrated so he needs, I think, some
01:46more time. He might stay there for a couple of days.
01:49More than 300 emergency crew took part in the search for Hadi in Kosciuszko National
01:54Park in the statement he's thanked them for their tireless work in tough conditions.
02:00I am very grateful for the rescuers and volunteers involved in searching for me. May God bless
02:05them all.
02:06He was just so thankful. He was just like, praise God. And then when he saw the helicopter
02:12come over, he got all excited. He stood up and he went to shake all our hands and he
02:17was thanking all of us.
02:18He's probably the real hero of the story because that's sort of the grit that it would
02:21require to survive the way that he had.
02:24So will the hero's journey have a sequel?
02:26When we found him and he was keen to go for another hike and I was like, no more hiking
02:31for you.
02:33At least not any time soon.