Diabetic tourist lost in outback ate flies to survive

German tourist Daniel Dudzisz was stranded by floodwaters for about 10 days in the Australian Outback.

A German tourist who was missing for more than two weeks in the Australian Outback survived by eating flies after becoming lost and stranded by floodwaters, police said.

Daniel Dudzisz, 26, was picked up by a motorist late on Thursday near the township of Windorah in Queensland state, police Inspector Mark Henderson said.

The insulin-dependent diabetic had last been seen on February 17 when he left Windorah to walk 77 kilometres north across rugged terrain to the settlement of Jundah, Mr Henderson said.

Mr Dudzisz became stranded by floodwaters for about 10 days and lived on insects for most of the time he was lost, Mr Henderson said.

“He joked about never going hungry in the Australian Outback because of the amount of flies you can eat for their protein,” Mr Henderson told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

“He had some baked beans and cereal when he left Windorah and exhausted that pretty quickly, and said he’d been eating flies ever since,” Mr Henderson added.

Mr Dudzisz told police he had heard search helicopters but their crews could not see him through the canopy of trees, Mr Henderson said.

Mr Dudzisz, who had an adequate supply of insulin with him, refused medical treatment at Windorah.

“He certainly was hungry, but other than that he was in reasonable spirits,” Mr Henderson said, adding that Mr Dudzisz remained determined to trek west to the sparsely populated Northern Territory. “He has made an agreement now that he will stick to the main roads now rather than going cross country,” Mr Henderson said.