THE Worcestershire teenager who emerged from an Australian rainforest after four days wandering lost and alone through dense jungle, has returned home for Christmas.

Louise Saunders, aged 19, thought she would never see her family again as she spent three nights, cold and afraid, on a mountain in North Queensland.

The trainee beauty therapist, from Kidderminster, set off for a walk up Mount Tyson, near Tully, but did not return.

A massive rescue operation, involving aboriginal trackers, the police, the Army and helicopters, failed to find her, while her mum, Elizabeth Saunders, waited anxiously at her home in Waterside Grange, Kidderminster.

"There were times I thought I'd never see her again and here she is, back home at Christmas," said Mrs Saunders.

Louise, meanwhile - who spent three nights in pitch black darkness, ate chewing gum and covered herself in leaves to try and stay warm - said thoughts of home and family kept her going.

Plucky teenager

"I knew in my heart I would see mum and everybody again," said the plucky teenager, who eventually found a gully and followed it down the mountainside.

"I treated every step I took as a challenge. It was the only way to stop the panic taking over."

She had no idea her disappearance had sparked such international attention.

"I thought I'd just go back to where I was staying and that would be that. I had no idea I had caused such a fuss."

She denied suggestions she had acted irresponsibly, saying friends had done the same walk, which is signposted as a two-hour return trip, on their own.

"The only thing I did wrong was to get lost," she said.

Mrs Saunders flew out to be with her daughter at the end of November, and together they revisited the scene of Louise's ordeal.

"I think she did so brilliantly to make it out of there on her own. I could see how thick and jungle-like it was," said Mrs Saunders.

Louise said her close shave had not put her off travelling and she plans to complete her tour of Australia and New Zealand before returning to Kidderminster College next June.

Louise is working with her mum in a Worcester department store during her spell at home and is trying to get back to normal.

"My friends keep cracking jokes - if I go to the loo they ask me if I want a map!"