Welcome set for student

By Rebecca Fraser
THE Berwick Secondary College community is waiting to welcome back missing student Glenn Birtwistle.
The 16-year-old was found in Belgrave on Sunday night when a woman walking her dog noticed the teenager curled up in a ball along a fire track on Belgrave-Hallam Road.
The year 10 student at Berwick Secondary College went missing on Wednesday, 26 July when he left home to catch a bus to school.
His disappearance sparked a full-scale police search last week with officers and SES volunteers scouring land in and around his home and at nearby Lysterfield Lake Park.
Detective Senior Constable Andrew Smart of Narre Warren CIU said Glenn probably would not have survived another night in the bush where temperatures had fallen below freezing on several nights.
Det Smart said Glenn had survived his 12-day ordeal by collecting water from a creek in his school bag and had only eaten a quarter of a muesli bar.
When found, police said Glenn was disoriented and dehydrated.
He was later conveyed to Dandenong Hospital for treatment.
“His temperature was down in the low 20s when he was found,” Det Smart said.
“The ambulance had to stop a couple of times to restabilise him as his blood pressure fell dangerously low. He wouldn’t have survived today (Monday) if he wasn’t found,” Det Smart said.
Det Smart said the teenager was doing well considering his ordeal and police believed the boy had been by himself the entire time.
He spoke with the teenager in hospital on Monday but said he could not elaborate on the reasons surrounding Glenn’s disappearance.
Det Smart said the boy was sorry for all of the ‘drama’ he had caused and despite the search bill estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, police would not be attempting to recover any of the costs.
Last week, Glenn’s visibly distraught parents, Linda and John Birtwistle, spoke of their love for their son and urged him to contact someone.
They said they had been going through ‘Hell’ and asked the public to help find their son.
“There’s nothing we cannot work through. He’s our son. We would do anything for him,” the couple said.
On Monday the relieved parents told the media they were extremely relieved to have their son home and were grateful to the woman who had discovered him.
They also thanked everyone involved with searching for the 16-year-old.
Acting principal Berwick Secondary College Rex Valena this week said the school was very relieved that Glenn had been found safe and well.
He said a number of students had been visibly upset and concerned by the teenager’s disappearance and had been placing fliers up at a number of local businesses to try and help track down their friend.
Mr Valena said he understood that returning to school might be difficult for Glenn, as many students would have questions for him.
But he said the school would help Glenn come back to school and was looking forward to seeing him soon.