Woman eats bugs to survive 17-day ordeal

Shannon Fraser had to drink creek water and eat insects and small fish to survive 17 days in the bush. Photo / Thinkstock

A Queensland mother says her daughter has miraculously survived a 17-day ordeal lost in rugged bushland where she lived on creek water, small fish and insects.

Deidre Sharrock says a farmer found her 30-year-old daughter Shannon Leah Fraser when she stumbled out of the bush.

She was last seen at the Golden Hole swimming spot, south of Cairns, on September 21.

"She's badly burnt, she's lost a lot of weight," Ms Sharrock told The Courier-Mail.

"She's got a lot of infected cuts from fighting the scrub. She told us she just sat in a creek for three days to soothe her cuts and burns.

"It's incredible, it's amazing, we all thought she was dead. Thank God, she's alive."

She said her daughter was now recovering in hospital.

Police have not confirmed any of the circumstances around Ms Fraser's reappearance, other than to say she was found safe and well on Wednesday morning.

Ms Fraser had gone to the swimming hole with two men including her partner.

Her partner later told police he'd left her sitting alone under a gazebo near the river but when he returned five or 10 minutes later, she was gone.

Her disappearance sparked an intensive search, police suspicions she might have met with foul play, and a public appeal for information by her mother.

- AAP