BUSH RESCUE BRIT LEFT DEATH NOTES; Starving Jamie's farewell to family as he gave up hope.

Byline: Rosa Silverman

A BRITISH backpacker lost in the Australian bush for almost two weeks yesterday told how he wrote goodbye notes to his family, fearing he would starve to death.

Jamie Neale, 19, of north London, was found alive but dehydrated by sightseers in the Blue Mountains national park, west of Sydney, on Wednesday morning.

He said: "I'm not a particularly religious person but I started thinking about God and was praying saying, 'Surely you can move the helicopter an inch and find me.' "I was thinking that I might die on that mountain and in the notebook I had, which I later lost, I had actually written some goodbye notes, things to family, saying sorry and explaining how I got lost and things like that.

"I thought I was going to have a long painful starvation death where I could just think it over and over again."

Jamie set off from a hostel in Katoomba on July 1, taking only a few rolls and a bottle of water with him.

Thinking his hike would take just a few hours, he said he left his mobile phone charging in his room.

But after veering off a path, he realised he was lost.

At first, he was not worried - until he ended up walking for a day and a half in the wrong direction.

Jamie said: "That's when I started to think, 'I'm in trouble.' "I'd fallen in water, got soaked and hadn't been able to get out.

"That's when the panic started to set in because I knew I couldn't climb up and down these hills. It was too tough and I couldn't get out."

The Briton managed to build a makeshift shelter but said making a fire by rubbing two sticks together was harder than telly survival shows suggested.

As time went on, he foraged for food, eating seeds and leaves without knowing if they were poisonous or not.

But he admitted he was not brave enough to swallow bright red millipedes in his quest for food.

Jamie described in the interview his feelings of "frustration and anger" when he failed to attract the attention of helicopters flying overhead from his position in dense undergrowth.

Unknown to him, his father Richard Cass had flown to Australia to help the search, while his mum Jean Neale refused to believe he wouldn't be found.

Collapsed Relief finally came after 12 nights in the open when Jamie spotted a tent.

He said: "At that point, I just started walking towards it and then started screaming, 'Hello!' "And then I saw the bloke walk out and I started screaming and running but I almost lost energy.

"I just collapsed into their camp and found them and knew I'd been saved."

Jamie was discharged from Katoomba's Blue Mountains Hospital on Friday after being treated for dehydration and exposure.

His dad was waiting at the airport to fly home on Wednesday morning when he received a text message from police saying there was good news.

He said: "The words 'good news' told me everything. That was when I knew he was safe."

Speaking after her son was found, mum Jean insisted: "I never gave up hope.

"You never give up hope on your children until someone actually proves to you differently. As far as I was concerned, he was coming home."

Jamie has come in for criticism from some sections of the media who have questioned whether his amazing survival tale was fake.

He said: "The people in hospital said I'm going to get a lot of this criticism and people saying it was a hoax.

"But I've been in the situation. I know what it's like. People can say what they want because I'm not lying. It's the truth."

CAPTION(S):

HOPE: Mum Jean Neale LOST AND FOUND: Jamie veered off path in the Blue Mountains, above. Top, in hospital with dad Richard