A 19-year-old British backpacker missing in Australia for 12 days has been found alive.
Jamie Neale, from Muswell Hill, north London, went missing in dense bushland in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
New South Wales Police said two bushwalkers alerted emergency services after finding Mr Neale.
His mother Jean Neale told the BBC she "had no doubt" her son would be found alive. He has been taken to Katoomba Hospital with dehydration and exposure.
Mr Neale's father, Richard Cass, who flew to Australia to join the search, was reunited with his son, who he said looked "gaunt and scratched".
He just said that he wanted to hear my voice, that he didn't think he'd see me again
Jean Neale, mother
10 tips to survive the bush
Mr Cass told Australian newspaper, The Age: "The millions that have been spent on this search, the man hours that have gone into it... all because he goes out on a walk without his mobile phone.
"The only teenager in the world who goes on a 10-mile hike and leaves his mobile phone behind.''
Speaking at a press conference he admitted that he had "lost faith".
"I made a little shrine for him," he said.
"I defaced your national park with his name and date of birth - he's going to come back and see his gravestone."
New South Wales Police said Mr Neale, who is due to start a politics degree at Exeter University later this year, checked into the Katoomba Youth Hostel on 2 July.
Map detailing the Blue Mountains, where Jamie Neale went missing
He was seen the following morning but failed to return for a pre-booked cave tour, resulting in a search for him.
Personal belongings, including a phone and passport, were found still in his room.
Mr Neale had not intended to go missing, the BBC was told.
It is understood he had gone for a walk but did not know how far he had wandered into the wilderness.
He slept under trees and logs and ate nettles to survive.
The teenager was eventually found near Katoomba, nine miles from where he went missing.
John Hughes, of New South Wales State Emergency Service, said: "He came out to two people who were camping in the bush and said, 'I am lost'.
"In winter we have had people lost for three days but never more than a week [and surviving].
"This is extraordinary."
He was going out for a day trip, but took 12 days to come back - very, very lucky
Spokesman, New South Wales Police
Mrs Neale said she always "stayed positive".
"He's very stubborn, he's very persistent and very resourceful, so I had no doubt that he would get through," she told the BBC.
"He just said that he wanted to hear my voice, that he didn't think he'd see me again. I told him, you don't get rid of me that easily."
Mr Neale is described in a stable condition in hospital.
A spokesman for New South Wales police told reporters the search had covered "in excess of 100 square kilometres".
"He was going for a day trip, but took 12 days to come back - very, very lucky," he said.
Jamie's aunt, Caroline Neale, said her family had felt "helpless" during the search.
"As far as I know he has just got a few cuts and grazes. He is really tough," she said.
Poor weather
Rescuers were hampered by poor winter weather, including thick fog, rain and freezing temperatures, he said.
And the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney said police were on the verge of calling off the search just hours before Mr Neale was found.
The UK Foreign Office is providing consular assistance.
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