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Guardian angel? Kangaroo saves missing child in Australia

Thursday, August 8, 2013, 11:03 AM -

A kangaroo is being called one boy's guardian angel after the seven-year-old got lost in the Australian wilderness last weekend. 

"He was playing outside picking up sticks and he saw a wallaby walk by and he followed the wallaby into the bush," says Simon's father Etienne Kruger.

"There were two mountains and I went up the first one," Simon recalls. 

He said he was picking flowers for his mom before coming face to face with a local.

"A kangaroo came closer to him and ate the flowers from him and the kangaroo fell asleep next to him. I think God sent a kangaroo to keep him warm," says Etienne. 

"I think it was a miracle. When I smell his jacket, it's kangaroo, bush and kangaroo," Simon's mother Linda adds. 

Police mounted a huge search on Saturday night even using parachute flares in a bid to guide Simon to them. 

"I saw the helicopters but they couldn't see me," Simon says.

Nearly 24 hours later, he was spotted and brought to safety, back into the arms of his elated parents. 

"I couldn't stop laughing. It was the happiest moment, I think, since his birth. The happiest moment so far in my life," Linda says.

Although Simon's parents will now be keeping a closer eye on him, they say the weekend's events won't stem their son's sense of adventure. 

"Hopefully he'll refer to it as an adventure so we'll keep it at that. A bit of a jungle book story," Etienne says.