A woman missing for six days in Australia’s Snowy Mountains has been found “dazed and injured” by emergency services after a massive search and rescue operation.
New South Wales (NSW) Police said Lovisa Sjoberg was located on Sunday afternoon local time, suffering from a suspected snake bite, dehydration and a rolled ankle.
The avid photographer was treated for her injuries at the scene, before being rushed to hospital, where she is in a stable condition.
Sjoberg, 48, is a regular visitor to the remote Kosciuszko National Park, where she often documents wild horses living in the mountains.
Fears grew for her safety after a hire car company reported that her car had not been returned and she could not be contacted. Her car was later found unlocked and abandoned.
NSW Police launched an appeal on 21 October to the public to help find her and began a widescale search using sniffer dogs, firefighters, park rangers and a helicopter with infra-red capabilities.
Concerns increased after rescue teams failed to find her after several days and temperatures in the area surrounding Kosciuszko National Park dropped as low as zero degrees at night.
Sjoberg was found on Sunday afternoon local time by a National Parks and Wildlife Service officer on the Nungar Creek Trail at Kiandra.
Supt Toby Lindsay told media that Sjoberg had been “wandering [for] days” through “tough” bushland, and told rescuers she believed she had been bitten by a copperhead snake four days earlier.
The species tends to be shy rather than aggressive, but their venom is a powerful neurotoxin and can be fatal without medical intervention.
“She’s in fact very fortunate to be alive… she obviously went through a tough time,” Supt Lindsay said.
He added that she was now in a “reasonable condition” and is ” happy to be alive”.