Volunteers have rescued a little girl from swooping birds about five hours after she was reported missing by her parents northwest of Sydney
An army of more than 100 people was deployed to find the six-year-old who was thought to have wandered from a home on Wattle Cr at Glossodia in the Hawkesbury region about 1.40pm on Monday.
She was found by Charles Xiberras about 500m from where she went missing.
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“I felt helpless, hearing on the radio and the news and wanted to help so (I) came out with my cousin, Luke,” he told 7NEWS.
“We were trying to work out what we were going to do … as we were working it out we heard plovers swooping down at a little girl.
“We thought maybe it was someone who lives on the property, but as we got closer we found out it was actually her.”
There were serious concerns for the girl’s welfare, as she lives with autism and is non-verbal.
Xiberras is a father-of-three, including one child with autism, and said that was part of the reason he drove over from Grose Vale to join the search.
He said the girl was being swooped by up to three birds.
“Her crying and telling them to go away is what sort of drew us towards her,” he said.
“She clung to me. I shone the torch on her face and said, is it her?”
He said he was “in shock” once it was confirmed he and two others had found the missing girl.
“I was not expecting it. It’s just good news,” he said.
The child’s parents had been outside for a short time, but when they went back into the house, she was nowhere to be seen.
Police called on “all available resources” — including PolAir, the dog squad, SES, and fire and rescue — when the girl was reported missing.
Forty members of the community also volunteered to look for her.
CCTV footage showed the girl running in a northerly direction and gave police some indication of her movements.
Superintendent Nadine Roberts the child is in “surprisingly fabulous condition” and it is “the best-case scenario”.
“She’s well, she’s happy, not injured. She’s very happy to be reunited with her mum and dad,” Roberts said.
A command centre was set up as officers prepared for the search to go into the night.