An Australian family is thankful for a miracle after their missing little boy has been found safely.
On September 3, Anthony "AJ" Elfalak went missing from his family's home, a remote rural property near the village of Putty, north of Sydney. His older brothers were watching him but lost track of him when one of them went to the bathroom. They figured the toddler couldn't have gotten far, but they searched the property on ATVs, and he was nowhere to be found.
It was extremely concerning because the toddler is autistic and nonverbal. The concerns grew as it went into a third day of the little boy being missing, as temperatures dropped and rain moved through the region. The family feared the boy was kidnapped, but those fears were put to rest after he was spotted by helicopter searchers on September 6 in a bush near a creek just 500 yards from his family home.
"They were able to clearly identify a small boy in a puddle in a creek bed," Tracy Chapman, commander of the Hunter Valley Police District, said, per Nine AU News.
The searcher who approached AJ lightly touched his shoulder. When the boy turned around, he was beaming.
"They put a hand on his shoulder and comforted him, he went on our rescuer's knee and a big smile towards him as well and they embraced at that moment," Chapman said.
The boy was found in the creek, drinking water from his cupped hands. His family believes drinking the water helped him survive the three days alone.
"I think so close to water is potentially what gave him that opportunity to survive," Chapman noted.
"Certainly, experts that we've consulted, if he had access to water, it was always going to be able to survive the longest period of time with dehydration being the issue so he obviously found some water and was able to access that, was clearly drinking it. It is obviously something which assisted in him surviving."
Special Operations Team paramedic Gerry Pyke from NSW Ambulance was impressed by the boy's "remarkable" abilities.
"It was evident that he is a little survivor. By the time I got to him, the SES had done a wonderful job in winning over his spirits," Pyke said.
"He had some lacerations on his lower legs. He was very, very thankful," Pyke noted.
"His temperature was great. He did have a bit of a nappy rash."
The family was sure to thank the hundreds who took part in the search efforts. "Our family is together again. For that we are grateful to everyone who has assisted in any way over the last three days," they said in a statement.
"Thank you to the NSW Police, Rescue Services, volunteers, community members, friends and family who have worked tirelessly to find AJ. AJ is fine. Hold your kids close. Please give our family the privacy to appreciate what we have."
