After surviving two days alone on freezing mountain, William is back home and couldn't be happier
After William Callaghan defied all odds, surviving two days alone on the bitterly cold Mount Disappointment, he is now out of hospital and enjoying the creature comforts of home.
William is smiling again – and his stepfather, like the rest of Australia, couldn't be happier.
William, who has non-verbal autism, is smiling again – and his stepfather, like the rest of Australia, couldn't be happier. A Current Affair
"It's just been, I suppose more than anything, the outpouring of love and willingness to help has just been overwhelming. The love that is out there in the community for Will, I suppose. Thank you to everybody," Will's stepfather Nathan Ezard told A Current Affair.
The 14-year-old was separated from his family as they walked to the Victorian summit, and was lost without food or water in freezing, life-threatening conditions. The search through dense scrub and bushland made all the more tense because of the fact William, who has non-verbal autism, couldn't scream out for help.
"At my darkest moment, I feared that I'd never see him again," Nathan said.
William Callaghan is hugged by his mother at the base camp at Mount Disappointment. He was found alive after two cold nights in Victoria's bush AAP / James Ross
The 14-year-old was separated from his family as they walked to the Victorian summit, and was lost without food or water in freezing, life-threatening conditions. A Current Affair
"I actually left the campground disappeared into the bush myself for a couple of minutes. And I let out some really, really agonising primal screams and I didn't want to have that in front of the media or the people up there or, because you know the people up there needed to see us strong and believing that we'd find him," he added.
William's mother Penny Callaghan described her son as "resilient" – something which he has certainly proved to the country in spades.
Local bushwalker Ben Gibbs was the man who eventually stumbled upon William on the peak.
After William Callaghan defied all odds, surviving two days alone on the bitterly cold Mount Disappointment, he is now out of hospital and enjoying the creature comforts of home. A Current Affair
"I was just wondering through the bush and it's quite thick so just breaking my way through and he was just about 15 metres from me, just standing there," Ben Gibbs said.
Today in Port Arlington, Will was right at home with his stepfather in the captain's seat onboard a ferry.
"He lives every single moment in the moment. So there's no worrying about what happened over the last few days. There's no worrying about what happened tomorrow. He's pretty much the perfect example of that notion of just living every day as it comes every moment as it comes," Nathan said.
Today in Port Arlington, Will was right at home with his stepfather in the captain's seat onboard a ferry. A Current Affair
"Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't assume that because someone is a little bit different, or has an intellectual disability or physical disability, that they are less than you. Will is better, he's probably the best person I've ever met. I imagine the best person I ever will met.
"He is just beautiful," his stepfather added.
On online fundraising page has been set up to help raise money for the Callaghan family to build a fence around their property so Will and his brother, who also has autism, can safely play in their backyard.
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