Lily Hooper: Family shows remarkable strength and forgiveness after communication mix-up
Loved ones were initially told Lily had been found alive, only to learn 20 minutes later that the 18-year-old had died.
The father of Lily Hooper says he holds no anger towards towards police and the SES after the 18-year-old was wrongly reported to have been found alive.
Instead, Jim Hooper told 7NEWS he is grateful to them for never giving up on finding his precious girl during the eight-day search.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Family’s incredible shows strength after Lily Hooper tragedy
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A post-mortem will take place to work out how Lily died.
A vigil has been held on Friday night at Oakdale in Sydney’s southwest, not far from the family home, as the community rallies around the grieving family.
Lily, an adventure and lover of the the outdoors, went for a bushwalk in Nattai National Park and never came home,
“She was doing what you’d want of every young person and that is getting out in the community, getting out in nature,” Premier Chris Minns said.
Lily never stopped. She worked part-time as a guide at BridgeClimb, had a huge circle of friends and a deep love of martial arts.
“She was a very talented, tough young lady, only 18 years of age. She was super tough on the mats, but yet she was still just such a lovely, sweet person,” Mark Szalajko from Bujutsu Martial Arts said.
The dedicated athlete trained the night before her fatal hike.
“As she was leaving, she told us she’d be back on Wednesday night to train BJJ and unfortunately that never happened,” Szalajko said.
In a statement, the company fostering Lily’s dream of becoming a worldwide tour guide, said: “Lily was an absolute delight from the moment she joined the BridgeClimb family and lit up every space with her smile and enthusiasm.”
“She was compassionate, a friend to all, motivated and had a positive impact on everyone she connected with.”
Hundreds of police and volunteers had scoured the dense bushland of Nattai National Park, almost 50 kilometres from her family home at Oakdale.
Then came the devastating breakdown in communication on Thursday morning.
Her family was told by searchers she had been found alive.
Twenty minutes later came utter devastation, Lily had actually died.
Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon promised on Friday it will never happen again.
“Yesterday’s miscommunication, as tragic as it was, was not born out of ill will,” Lanyon said.
“We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“It was a terrible set of circumstances. We will work through that.”
Originally published on 7NEWS
