An 11-year-old boy who went missing on Friday while camping with his family near Lake Eildon in Victoria, Australia, was found alive on Tuesday.
Police praised Luke Shambrook, who has autism, for his resilience. “Luke is fantastic for what he’s been through, suffering exhaustion of course, dehydrated and some hypothermia, but from where he’s been – four nights and four days in the bush – he’s really in remarkable condition,” Acting Commander Rick Nugent from Victoria Police told ABC News.
Luke disappeared at midday on Friday from the Candlebark Campground in the Fraser National Park, the BBC reports. Police searched the wilderness by land, air and sea before a helicopter finally spotted the boy on Tuesday, nearly two miles from where he was last seen.
“I just, out the corner of my eye, caught a little flash of something,” Acting Sergeant Brad Pascoe, who first saw Luke, told ABC News.
“It wasn’t much but it was enough to make me get the guys to turn the aircraft around. We were able to train the camera in and confirm it was Luke. We were just absolutely over the moon.”
“To find him safe and well, is just wonderful news,” Nugent added. The moment of the boy’s rescue was captured on video, above.
In a statement, authorities thanked dozens of volunteers for their “immense amount of community support” in locating the 11-year-old, who was transported to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne for treatment after his rescue.
“We’re very thankful to live in a society that puts a lot of effort into finding children who go missing,” Luke’s uncle, Peter Roberts, told ABC News.
“We’re very happy that Luke’s been found alive and well even after such a long time.”
This article originally appeared on People.com.
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