
Screenshot: ABC News video. YouTube on January 9, 2025. The hikers who found Hadi Nazari share his amazing survival story
Australians delighted in a rare good news story at the start of 2025. While Californians were grappling with devastating winter fires, the rescue of a lost hiker was welcome relief both locally and overseas.
Cartoonist for the Guardian, Fiona Katauskas, enjoyed the breaking news on the social media site Bluesky:
Cannot get enough Hadi Nazari rescue content. Shoot that sweet sweet good news right into my fkn veins
— Fiona Katauskas (@fionakatauskas.bsky.social) January 8, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The 23-year-old medical student from Melbourne, Hadi Nazari, was found safe and well after 13 days of being lost in a remote bushland in Australia’s Kosciuszko National Park. He was walking with two friends on the Hannels Spur trail.
The joy of readers as the news broke was clearly unmistakable. The Australian Broadcasting Commission’s TV presenter, Joe O’Brien, couldn't keep the smile off his face. He went off-script several times: “Wow!” “So cool to bring you this news” “I’ve got goosebumps.”
Tim Richards was clearly pleased on Mastodon:
The Hussaini Society of Victoria, a non-government organization with an educational focus, posted its excitement on Instagram:
Hadi was hiking with two friends but was separated from them on Boxing Day on December 26, 2024. He survived on creek water, wild berries, and a lucky find of two muesli bars. Apparently, before Hadi went missing, another hiker had left muesli bars in a cabin near where Hadi was walking.
Despite an extensive search by hundreds of emergency workers and volunteers, Hadi eventually found some campers 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from his last sighting. Earlier, he left a video camera message for emergency services on his camera, which was discovered by searchers.
Amit Sarwal, co-founder of The Australia Today online news outlet, posted on TikTok:
Inevitably, a couple of commenters ridiculed the story:
Ds : He was hiding the whole time… no way could you be lost or unseen in that part of the park
Barry Bushcha: I’m calling Bs here comes a Tv and a book called… I’m not very bright.
You can’t please everybody.
Please click on the image to view the post and comments.
On Reddit, Purpington67 was one of several people who questioned Hadi’s survival skills:
Good news that he survived but he pretty much did everything else wrong. Bushwalking’s is safe and enjoyable IF you are well prepared and have the right gear and don’t do dumb stuff.
SBS News interviewed a number of emergency and bushfire experts about what we might learn from Hadi’s ordeal. Bushcraft and survival instructor Rick J Petersen praised Hadi’s determination:
You could be equipped with all of the fancy survival gear you like, but if your attitude of giving up or quitting with the first couple of nights of no shelter… So without knowing all the circumstances, he's done well. And it would've had to have been his mindset of just not giving up. There might be some other mistakes he's made, but his mindset ultimately has kept him not giving up.
The positive story was a great outcome during Australia's bushfire season, which has already burnt out large parts of the iconic Grampians National Park.