Teen rescued in Upper Hutt: Maia Johnston shares about injuries after ordeal

• Maia Johnston has described her injuries after falling down a waterfall in Upper Hutt.
• The 19-year-old spent two nights alone and injured before being found by Land Search and Rescue.
• A Givealittle page has been set up so her family can focus on supporting her recovery.

A teenager rescued from the Upper Hutt bush after two nights lying injured near the base of a waterfall has shared more details of her ordeal.

Maia Johnston was found by LandSAR on Monday afternoon amid a huge community search, having disappeared on Saturday evening.

Johnston, 19, had told family she was going for a walk to get some space, and never returned.

Family began searching for her shortly after realising she had left her phone and wallet behind.

“I can’t see very well right now, I have multiple fractures to my face, collarbones, arms, legs and my spleen is messed up,” she wrote in a post to her Instagram story last night.

“I was missing for almost 48 hours before being found in the hills of Totara park,” she wrote.

Maia Johnston is recovering in hospital after her ordeal.

“I couldn’t walk & tried my best to follow the stream down the maunga. I’m going to need a lot of surgeries and a long recovery period. My parents & family are around supporting me but their work can not support them to be here.”

Johnston said she was doing well in terms of her mental health while she was surrounded by family.

“I don’t know what effects are to come but I am ready to fight.”

She said her face was “terrifying right now”.

“Y’all ain’t going to see me for a while,” she said, with laughing face emojis.

Johnston shared a link to a Givealittle page set up by one of the members of the group who had been searching for her.

She begged people to donate to the page, saying the funds would go towards keeping her family by her side during her recovery.

What happened to Maia?

Johnston 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.

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

“I couldn’t walk & tried my best to follow the stream down the maunga. I’m going to need a lot of surgeries and a long recovery period. My parents & family are around supporting me but their work can not support them to be here.”

A location provided by police shows she was found by LandSAR 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.

A location provided by police shows Maia Johnston was found less than 10 minutes away from the place she was last spotted on CCTV. Image / Google Maps

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.