British explorer Benedict Allen ‘filmed will and final message for family’ after fearing he would die alone in Papua New Guinea jungle

Rescue: Benedict Allen was airlifted to hospital after being reported missing (Twitter)
Chloe Chaplain20 November 2017

A British explorer who went missing on an expedition in Papua New Guinea recorded a “video will” to send to his family after fearing he was going to die from malaria, it has been revealed.

Benedict Allen, 57, was evacuated by helicopter after falling ill during a mission to find a remote tribe.

He was rescued from a mountaintop on Friday and was rushed to hospital with a fever, where doctors diagnosed him with either malaria or similar Dengue Fever and said he was lucky to be alive.

Documentary maker Mr Allen since revealed to The Daily Mail that, at his lowest ebb, he filmed a final message for his wife and children on his camera.

Missing: adventurer Benedict Allen has been found safe and well
Twitter

Images and pictures show the explorer lying in a mosquito net near an abandoned refuge centre in the Hewa valley.

Sweaty and delirious, he says to the camera: “I've got fever, bad fever. This is so very quick... so sudden.”

Recovering in hospital, he later told the newspaper: “I was in a bad way. I was lying in an abandoned mission station and it was like a place for the dying.

“The missionaries had fled during a tribal war. I felt it could be me next to go. It wasn't a place of hope, but of despair – a horrible place to be entombed in. I could hear birds of paradise singing outside, and it felt like I was slipping into heaven.”

He said he thought about his wife Lenka, who raised the alarm that her husband was missing, and children Natalya, 10, Freddie, seven, and two-year-old Beatrice.

My mind was beginning to slip,” he said. “I was hallucinating about my children begging me, 'Please daddy come home' and 'Daddy don't do this'. I was thinking, 'Freddie needs to have a dad' – they all need me.

“I was meant to be the strong one, but I was weak – I felt like an old man.”

Mr Allen was dropped in the jungle three weeks ago with no mobile phone or GPS device with him.

Allen: The explorer was airlifted to hospital after being found on a mountain top
@benedictallen

He had been hoping to reach the Yaifo, a tribe thought to be one of the last on Earth to have no contact with the outside world.

The explorer was reported missing last week after he failed to board a flight back home via Hong Kong on Sunday.

His agent, Jo Sarsby, confirmed on Thursday that he had been seen near a remote airstrip and he was later rescued by helicopter and airlifted to hospital.

In a statement on Friday, his agent said: "We can confirm that Benedict Allen has been evacuated by helicopter and is now safe in Port Moresby.

"He is reported as feverish with suspected malaria. Benedict looks forward to being reunited with his family and friends but will need some time to get back to full health.

"He would like to send thanks for all the kind messages he has received."

Mr Allen's wife Lenka previously told how the couple's children were missing their father.

After hearing of sightings of Mr Allen, she told the Daily Mail: "It is such a relief. I'm so happy, it's amazing."

In a blog post on his website in September, Mr Allen described the Yaifo as "one of the last people on the entire planet who are out of contact with our interconnected world".

"Just like the good old days, I won't be taking a sat phone, GPS or companion. Or anything else much," he wrote.

"Because this is how I do my journeys of exploration. I grow older but no wiser, it seems."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in