The mother of a three-year-old boy AJ Elfalak who miraculously survived three nights in rugged NSW bushland 150km north-west of Sydney, has spoken for the first time saying she believes the Virgin Mary kept her boy safe.
AJ’s mother, Kelly Elfalak, has told the media the photos captured by the rescue helicopter, seen in the photo here, prove her theory that he was looked after by the Virgin Mary.
“We’re a religious family. I always say that the Virgin Mary and all the saints and the angels are with my kids every day,” Kelly said in a video posted to social media.
“The Virgin Mary is always with us and I knew she was always with AJ.
“If you saw the picture of AJ in the creek, you can actually see the Virgin Mary next to him,” she added, referencing the rocks to his left.
Kelly who had visited the Monastery to pray just hours before her son was found, said she also believed the power of prayer played a role.
“I just had that feeling. I said to myself ‘I’m going to see him soon’,” she said.
And soon after, he was found.
AJ is the ‘miracle’ boy
AJ went missing on Friday September 3rd
from his house at his family’s 256ha rural property near Putty.
A huge search party was set up to find him including an SES team and police from the area. He was found three days later sitting in a puddle, drinking water from a creek bed about half a kilometre from his home by a rescue helicopter which then directed ground search crews to his location.
AJ had survived three nights in the bush, in temperatures which dipped as low as 3C with no food and only water from the creek.
‘A little survivor’
Just hours after he was located, Special Operations Team Paramedic Gerry Pyke said the boy’s condition was “remarkable”, adding: “He is a little survivor”.
“He had some lacerations on his lower legs … he did have a bit of nappy rash but he hadn’t had a nappy change for a few days so we can’t hold that against him,” Pyke told reporters.
“Once mum and dad were cuddling him, his spirits picked up and we had him in the back of the ambulance for about 1.5 hours, just checking him over.
“He was sleeping the whole time which was not surprising and once he woke up all he wanted to do was eat,” he added.
AJ was taken to Maitland Hospital as a precautionary measure and was released the next day.
This week, his mother Kelly says he’s doing well after his harrowing ordeal, adding: “He’s healthy, he is happy, he only has a few cuts but nothing serious.”
Image: 7News and Facebook
This article first appeared on Over60.