Lost British backpacker Jamie Neale has made big headlines in Australia in recent days and now it appears he has made an even bigger pay day:
BRITISH backpacker Jamie Neale has returned to the bush in the NSW Blue Mountains to tell a TV crew how his bushwalk went so horribly wrong.
The 19-year-old was lost for 12 days in enduring sub-zero temperatures, living off seeds and weeds and keeping warm under strips of bark.
He wandered off a walking track during a planned day hike on July 3 and lost hope of ever getting out of the rugged terrain before emerging on Wednesday.
Mr Neale was taken back into bushland on Saturday by Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes, which paid $200,000 for his story.
The teenager left hospital on Friday and is set to travel to Perth to visit relatives.
His father, Richard Cass, left Sydney on Saturday to return home after the extensive search for his son.
Before boarding his flight he again defended his son’s honesty as doubters in Australia and the UK continue to question how the backpacker survived in the cold without food. [AAP]
Whether or not him being lost in the woods for 12 days is a hoax or not is currently a big topic of debate:
But Mr Cass, 54, said: ‘When I told him about the hoax claims he was pretty angry about that.
‘He’s aware that people are disbelieving. But I know my boy and I know he’s been out there for that period of time.
‘He’s been through a God awful experience and for him to then not be believed, that will obviously be quite psychologically damaging.’
Callers to Sydney radio stations have asked why Mr Neale did not hear the search parties who were looking for him in the area he was lost in, roughly between a rocky outcrop known as the Ruined Castle and Mt Solitary.
They also asked why he did not stay in a clearing while a search helicopter was scouring the landscape.
Other doubters have said it seemed an amazing coincidence that on the very day his father, who had flown out to Australia from his home in Watford, was due to fly back to England, Mr Neale should have stumbled upon two bushwalkers who had set up camp and word went out that he had been found. [Daily Mail]
Like this park ranger I am eager as well to hear what he was eating:
Park ranger Geoff Luscomb described Mr Neale’s survival as ‘remarkable’ and said he wanted to learn more about the ‘bush tucker’ he had eaten.
Mr Neale has told his father he lived on seeds and a rocket-like grass, but Mr Luscombe said he could not be sure what the backpacker meant by his description of that grass.
‘I’m just very keen to hear all about that – how, being an Englishman with no previous knowledge of survival in the Australian bush, he managed to stay out there for 12 days eating these foods that I would like to know more about.
‘I’m not doubting his story, because it really is a remarkable story, but I am very keen to hear in detail how he managed it,’ said Mr Luscombe. [Daily Mail]
I guess the truth will probably come out in due time, but for someone who ate nothing, grass and seeds for 12 days in freezing temperatures he looks remarkably well.
I have no doubts in jamies story having spent a lot of time solo hiking between katoomba and the southern highlands having been under some stress at times in the bush its trully amazing what the human body can do to adapt as long as your will to survive stays strong . For my information i would would to know the tucker jamie survived on .
I'm not saying he made the story up but I would think it would be good to further look into the story before giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars for interviews.
The big unexplained inconsistency in his story is his lack of scratches. He claims to have been lost for 12 days in the Cedar Creek area, south of Ruined Castle. This valley has no tracks and is thick with lawyer vine, which is notorious for cutting bushwalkers. So to get through this area would be a “bush bash”; forcing your way through the undergrowth without the benefit of the clear ground that a track provides.
This would certainly mean that anyone bush bashing through that area, even for half a day, let alone 12, would be cut on arms, legs and face. Yet this guy appeared completely unscathed when rescued.
Has anyone put this question to him? If so, what's his excuse?
He's either lying or didn't go where he claimed.
If he isn't scratched up that is a good point you bring up. I would assume though that he was wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt and probably even a jacket since he was hiking in the winter. This may explain the lack of scratches. His hands should be scratched as well but if he was wearing gloves that might explain that.
I saw footage of him immediately after being rescued; he wasn't wearing gloves and his hands and face were unscathed.
Having scrub bashed through lawyer vine myself in the Blue Mountains and other places, I can guarantee you that hands and face would be scratched after 12 days in Cedar Valley. Plus his clothes would be ripped. They weren't.
I have a friend up here (I live in the Blue Mountains) who knows the rescuers of Jamie Neale. They expressed these same suspicions to my friend on the day they rescued him.
Appearance does not match the claimed experience.
my quest was katoomba to mittagong without touching a walking/fire trail i pulled out on the eastern side of warragamba dam near lakesland and was cut to pieces on the undergrowth/weeds i see what youre saying
There is no doubt in my mind that this was a complete hoax and it really has worked in his favour.
1. He looked too healthy on his return, no scratches to his face even.
2. How convenient to leave your mobile behind!
if he has survived in the bush for 12 days without any experience what so ever in bush survival, then it's a miracle he's alive, especially without shelter which should be the first thing you do when you get lost, then find food and water. The body can last a while without food and water, water is easily found, just dig in an old creek bed or channel. food, well lucky he wasn't sick, there's a lot of berries that are posionous, will make you ill etc. personally I'd have eaten bugs, more protein.
If this is all a hoax, then good luck to him, the newpapers and magazines are always quick to buy a good story without finding out the true facts first, but they'll be there if he's proven to be a liar, then he can sell his story again on why he lied. Why not?, if they're gullible enough then bad luck, who have they hurt in the past with stories on false accusations etc, and the people out there who are angry about it, well has he hurt you personally, no. the only people that would have been affected would be the rescurers and time wasted looking for him, waste of gov money, well the gov wastes money every day, how much has Iraq cost us so far? Good luck to ya mate.
According to information from authorities in the UK, Jamie Neale has a Duke of Edinburgh award and was a very experienced hiker.
According to those who know him:
At school “he had a reputation as a resourceful young man”, and “blitzed the stage of his Duke of Edinburgh award during which he learned bush survival skills and had to find his way out of Epping Forest in Essex”. Although “he was lost in the forest, he made it back to safety in record time”.
Apparently, he was also lost in Snowdonia, but found his way out. (I was lost in Snowdonia with three others at the age of 13 on a school trip, but we found our way out without fanfare – and we'd never been on a trek before.)
It is also said that “he had an unusually high tolerance of the cold”.
Given all of the above, this smells very fishy to me. Added to which, tourists regularly “get lost” in the Australian bush or desert and are paid handsomely for their stories when found. It's not at all surprising that people are sceptical.
We watched the 60 Minutes interview. A really pathetic interview by Tara Brown. No basic questions regarding exactly how he kept warm, remained unscratched, and decided on which berries he could eat, let alone any probing questions. My feeling, more than ever, is that this was a well-planned stunt.
Lots of good points being made. So far I haven't read anything that suggests the authorities are going to even bother investigating this incident to figure out if it really was a hoax or not. I'm still waiting just to hear what seeds and plants he was eating for 12 days.