A British backpacker who has been missing for almost two weeks in remote mountains in Australia has been found alive. 19-year-old Jamie Neale disappeared during a hike in early July.

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The young British backpacker went missing after leaving a youth hostel in the town of Katoomba for a day's hiking. For 12 days, rescue teams searched for him across hostile, mountainous terrain and the police admitted that as each hour passed, his chances of survival grew slimmer. His extraordinary ordeal over, Jamie Neale has been taken to hospital for treatment.

Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney

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resilience
ability to cope with difficult circumstances

a fortnight
two weeks

hampered
made difficult or stopped or prevented something (here, the search) from happening easily

backpacker
a person who goes on holiday (usually a long one) not with a suitcase, but with a rucksack (with all the clothes and things they need) carried on their back

a youth hostel
a place where people (usually young people) can stay. A youth hostel is cheaper than a hotel. Hotels have rooms for one or two people, youth hostels have large bedrooms where 10 or 12 men or women sleep

hiking
walking for a number of hours or days in mountains, hills or other places in the countryside

hostile
(used to describe land, mountains, environment etc) difficult or dangerous to live in

terrain
an area of land or earth

his chances of survival grew slimmer
it became less and less likely he would stay alive

ordeal
difficult or painful situation or experience

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