Yang Chen says watching survival and adventure TV shows helped her stay alive, as she knew to keep hydrated and warm

This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

A Chinese student who survived in flooded and dense Gold Coast bushland for five days used an empty milk bottle to collect water and get by.

Yang Chen went missing last Wednesday while walking with a friend in the Tallebudgera Valley and spent the next five nights sheltering in caves until she was found by water police near Gorge Falls on Monday morning.

Sgt Mitch Gray said Chen was able to keep her hydration up during her ordeal by filling a discarded 2l milk bottle each day.

Gray said Chen credited watching survival and adventure-style TV shows for helping her stay alive, as she knew to stay hydrated and try to keep warm.

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The 26-year-old Bond University student and her friend became separated trying to climb over boulders.

When she tried to walk back to the car park, she panicked when the track she was following ended, Gray said.

Gray said police had become increasingly concerned, especially with creeks in the region flooding.

“As these things start getting into the last day you start getting worried,” he said. “You can train a lot to plan for these things but there is an element of luck and a will to live.”

Police and a local land owner were near Gorge Falls on Monday morning when they found Chen. Police divers scaled a cliff face before she was rescued.

After her ordeal, she contacted her parents in China, the Bond University vice-chancellor, Tim Brailsford, said.

“Yang and I phoned her parents in China who were ecstatic with the news, and overwhelmed with gratitude,” Brailsford said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Yang is in surprisingly good spirits and health considering the extraordinary and traumatic experience she has been through.”

Despite losing her shoes and surviving in caves, Chen has no serious health concerns.

Her parents acknowledged and thanked the rescuers and hospital staff through Brailsford’s statement.