Aust'n man rescued after 2 weeks lost in Malaysian jungle

An Australian man who spent two weeks lost and "covered in leeches" in the Malaysian jungle said he survived by eating wild plants.

Andrew Gaskell, 25, went missing on October 18 while on a 2,376-meter solo hike to the summit of Mount Mulu, the second tallest mountain in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Gaskell, from the island state of Tasmania, was found by a Malaysian search team late on Tuesday covered in leeches and visibly weak.

"Obviously I'm quite starving, but apart from that I'm really happy to be alive," Gaskell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from a Malaysian hospital on Wednesday.

"These last few days I picked up a few wild ferns from the jungle, aside from that I ate virtually nothing. I was getting weaker and weaker every day.

"By the end of it, I was quite concerned I wouldn't make my 26th birthday."

Gaskell said that a series of similar walking trails at the base of the mountain, an area famous for its complex cave system, caused him to become disoriented and lost.

"At the base (of the mountain) there's a lot of parallel trails and creek crossings that make the track quite confusing," he said.

"The sun was just setting at the time (and) I managed to get myself lost.

"I ended up spending that whole night just wandering and really got myself badly disoriented.

"If I had a Global Positioning System (GPS) or better navigational equipment I would have been fine, but it was extremely stupid of me really.

"It actually took me a while to be concerned. I must be more optimistic than I thought."

Gaskell apologized for the stress he caused his family and thanked the Malaysian authorities for their rescue efforts.

"The rescue staff have been amazing, as have the hospital staff," he said. Endit