A PENSIONER has been rescued after getting lost in a Thai jungle for three days.
Leonard Barry Weller, from Hastings, was found by locals after surviving for 72 hours on fruit and rainwater.
The 72-year-old went into the forest in Khon Kaen province, in north-eastern Thailand, on his motorbike on September 1, but failed to return home.
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Dramatic video of the rescue shows the pensioner bursting into tears when eventually reunited with wife Tawee Leonard, 49, on September 3.
Footage shows Leonard tearfully thanking the rescuers who found him, while walking through the jungle in his socks.
“I’m wonderfully happy,” he said. “I’ve never been so happy in my life.
“My feet are sore. But otherwise, I’m happy.
“I just admire the work these people are doing. It makes me cry.”
Leonard went missing after riding his motorcycle to the forest.
It is thought that he parked the bike before walking up a hill but realised he could not find his way back.
Searchers entered the Nong Saeng forest area, where Leonard's motorbike was found abandoned in a rice field in the Dong Yen village area.
A shaken Leonard, who has lived in Thailand for around 15 years, was put in a wheelchair and placed in the back of an ambulance.
In the three days he was missing, a monsoon rainstorm also fell onto the area, affecting visibility.
The pensioner is said to have climbed a tree to see if there was any clearing to escape the jungle.
Local residents found the pensioner on the mountain with scratches on his legs, no shoes and his shirt torn open.
He had survived the 35°C temperatures by using a piece of grass as a straw to drink rainwater from puddles.
Although he had not eaten much, he had managed to find some fruit in the forest.
He told those who found him: “Thank you a million times.”
According to local news outlet News ch.7, rescuers eventually found Leonard on the forest floor, several kilometres deep into the jungle.
He was taken to hospital for a check-up and was unharmed.
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