New South Wales Police, in a statement submitted Wednesday, reported that Lovisa snake “Kiki” Sjoberg, 48, was found in the Snowy Mountains of Australia on Sunday.
Police said that the woman, who had been presumed dead for almost two weeks in a remote mountain region in Australia, was “dazed and sick” but alive after having bitten a snake and deserted for hours and days in wilderness territory.
A woman was found alive after having survived a snake bite
New South Wales Police in a statement said that Lovisa ‘Kiki’ Sjoberg, 48, was found shortly before 5 PM Sunday in the Snowy Mountains region of Kosciuszko National Park after a major search by several organizations involving two helicopters and dog teams.
The woman was last seen with a rental vehicle in the national park on October 15; search operations began when the rental company informed the police that the vehicle had not been dragged for six daytimes and was outstanding.
At a news conference on Monday, Monaro Police District Superintendent Toby Lindsay said the woman was “mentally dazed and injured” and is also “quite unwell”, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
He said, ‘ She told us she had been bitten by a copperhead snake four days before anyone found her and sprained an ankle and got dehydrated. Detective Inspector Lyall Gould of the Waikato district CIB said “We had serious concerns for this girl and are pleased with this result in which she has been located safe and well.”
Each day more than 30 people would search the forest for Mrs Sjoberg. Temperatures had plunged in the area to just about 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sjoberg was treated for exposure, with what is presumed to be a snake bite, on scene by paramedics before being flown out to Cooma District Hospital in serious condition.
According to the Australian Museum website, copperheads have a powerful neurotoxic venom and if bitten it is lethal without medical assistance.