Missing 2 Months, Australian Found Nearly Blind, Covered in Leeches

An 18-year-old Australian man missing for more than two months and suffering from exhaustion and dehydration was found by hikers over the weekend.

Matthew Allen was severely emaciated, with leeches and mosquito bites all over his body and gangrene on his feet and lower legs, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

"He was in such a poor state. He was completely exhausted, completely dehydrated, suffered significant weight loss, somewhere up to 50 percent. He was suffering from partial blindness and he had leeches all over him," Detective Acting Inspector Glyn Baker told the Herald.

Allen, of Westleigh, approximately 20 miles northwest of Sydney, went missing Nov. 27 during a record heat-wave that scorched the region with 113-degree temperatures.

Allen was found in a bush in the woods, according to local authorities, and was immediately flown to a nearby hospital where he was reunited with his family.

He remained in the hospital, where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Herald. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Authorities haven't said what led Allen astray, though authorities don't believe it was an ill-planned runaway attempt, considering his phone was left at home and that he didn't have a change of clothes with him.

"He’s not that far from home at Westleigh, but there’s no indication at all that food was being pilfered from the house," Baker said. "He was not living under any shelter and was exposed to the full conditions since reported being missing. I think he is in such a state that he couldn’t actually get up and move. Anyone who is missing for that length of time in those kind of conditions - you wouldn’t expect to see them again."

Allen has yet to speak publicly about his perilous adventure.