Teen rescued in Upper Hutt: Maia Johnston posts about support making her ‘emotional’

• Maia Johnston has shared a message with friends after being rescued from the bush.
• The 19-year-old spent two nights alone and injured before being found by Search and Rescue.
• A Givealittle page has been set up so her family can focus on supporting her recovery.

A teenager miraculously found alive after falling down a “nearly two-storey waterfall” has shared a post about her ordeal, saying the messages of love and support are making her emotional.

Meanwhile the 19-year-old’s mum has spoken of how well her daughter handled the ordeal, saying “she just knew she had to survive”.

Maia Johnston, 19, was rescued from a remote bush area in the hills of Upper Hutt yesterday afternoon, having spent two nights alone and injured while desperate family searched tirelessly for her.

“Got lost in the mountains and fell down a almost two-storey waterfall, couldn’t walk my way out and I’ll be in hospital for a while,” Johnston wrote over a screenshot of a Herald story about her rescue.

Maia Johnston has shared a message to friends on social media after being rescued from the bush.

“I can’t get back to messages rn [right now] y’all make me too emotional rn haha.”

Johnston disappeared on Saturday evening about 8pm after telling family she was going for a walk to get some space.

When she failed to return and loved ones realised she had left her phone and wallet behind, a frantic search ensued.

A location provided by police shows she was found a short distance from the last place she was seen on CCTV.

The area was less than a 10-minute walk away, near a trail towards Cannon Point.

Mum Amy Walsh, who searched through the night and much of the days until Johnston was found by Search and Rescue yesterday afternoon, said her daughter had surgery on her spleen overnight and will go back into surgery today “for three other areas of concern”.

“Her injuries are definitely more serious than originally thought, but nothing that won’t heal.”

She said Johnston “just wanted some fresh air and a walk” and “made the simple decision to wander to a waterfall that wasn’t on a track”.

Johnston has since “apologised profusely” to her family for not telling them where she was going or taking her phone with her.

“Who among us hasn’t made a dumb decision in life?” Walsh asked.

Maia Johnston (left) with mum Amy Walsh shortly before her disappearance.

“She’s just really unlucky that she has fallen a substantial distance and seriously injured herself so she couldn’t get back out.”

It “wasn’t a smart decision and a serious accident has happened”, but the searches for her – joined by hundreds of members of the Upper Hutt community – were “what saved her life”, she said.

She also credited Johnston’s “sheer determination to live and make it through”.

Johnston was now on a lot of pain relief medication, but had been “very chatty and matter of fact about the events of the time in the bush”.

“She just knew she had to survive.

Maia Johnston is chatty and matter of fact about her ordeal.

“Honestly, even as her mum I’m blown away with how she handled it ... beyond amazing.”

“She’s doing really well, but hopefully feels a bit better after this next surgery this morning.”

Walsh said she had not yet slept because she had been by her daughter’s hospital bedside all night, but would go home today to get some sleep and “do the Santa thing” with her 6-year-old twins in the morning before heading back to hospital.

A Givealittle page has been set up for Johnston’s family so they can focus on supporting her recovery.

“She has extensive injuries and is going to require multiple surgeries and a very long recovery. Let’s help Maia and her family so they don’t need to have added financial stress during this difficult time,” wrote the page creator, who was one of the people who helped in the search.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.