'He was sitting there reading his book': Rescuers share joyful moment missing boy found
Two men who were among hundreds of volunteers searching for missing Victorian boy Ben Dean have described the joyful moment they found the six-year-old reading his book in the bush.
Little Ben, who has Down Syndrome, went missing from his Beechworth home on Wednesday afternoon.
After spending a wet night lost in the bush, Ben was found hypothermic but in good spirits by rescuers John McLennan and Ben Hill on Thursday roughly one kilometre from his home.
The moment rescuers found little Ben Dean. Source: 7News
The Deans with Ben in hospital. Source: 7News
“I saw the little red jumper through the trees and there he was,” Mr McLennan said. “Just sitting there, legs crossed reading his book.
“He was surprised to see us. I was worried I scared him a little bit on the bike the way I blasted up to him.
“He had no shoes on. He was wet from the rain and he was shivering so thank God we found him.”
Ben recovering in hospital. Source: 7News
Mr Hill was searching for Ben on foot and raced over to the little boy, giving him his socks and jacket to keep him warm.
The duo said the six-year-old’s imagination was still running wild when they reached him.
“He told me he slid down a couple of things and some bears chased him so he had a rough night by the sound of it, the poor little bugger,” Mr Hill said.
Ben Dean. Source: 7News
Ben being taken to hospital. Source: 7News
Little Ben was reunited with his parents and taken to Albury Hospital. The family had only recently moved into the area from New South Wales.
His mum Nadia said the family were extremely grateful for all the support they received in the 18 hours Ben was missing.
“It’s been a rollercoaster and something I’ll have to put down to a bad dream,” she said.
“(We had) people come and volunteer in the middle of the night in the rain to look for our son who they’d never met.
“I’m an ex-police officer so a lot of it is you go minute-by-minute and try very hard not to think about what Ben’s going through, ‘cause that destroys you.”
Ben's mother Nadia. Source: 7News
Mrs Dean said the family spent a tough Wednesday night hoping for Ben’s safe recovery.
“As the rain set in, it was two or three in the morning (and) we were starting to get pretty despondent … not knowing if he was okay, if he was scared,” she said.
“We were just sitting at our kitchen table, suddenly a friend popped their head in saying they’ve found him.”
Some of the volunteers who spent the night looking for Ben. Source: 7News
Mrs Dean described the Beechworth volunteers as “the most amazing community” and said Ben was now recovering in hospital, looking forward to the family’s takeout night on Friday .
