British backpacker abducted in Australia is saved by texting her dad

Quick thinking.

A British backpacker was saved thanks to her fast action after being abducted in Australia . Mary Kate Heys, 20, was travelling Down Under. She met a man staying at the same hostel as her in Queensland and she agreed to get a lift to Brisbane with him in his car. She became alarmed at the beginning of the journey when the man began driving the opposite direction and he refused to let her out of the car. Mary Kate told 7 News that he had a crazy look in his eyes. She asked him to let her go to the shop and get a drink. When she went into the shop, she told the cashier calmly that she was in trouble and needed her to call the police. When the man told her to get back into the car, he began telling her that he was half-alien and that she was too. The man then told her to close all her apps and not to contact anyone. While closing the apps the 20-year-old woman took a screenshot of her location and sent it to her dad in Manchester. She then texted him saying:

'Dad are you awake?'

 ‘I need you to call the Australian police. Do not ring me’.

‘I’ve been taken by a man … please hurry,’

He asked her to send more information so she continued to send screenshots of her location.

Her dad immediately called the Australian police, who intercepted the car 55 miles from the hostel.

Around two and a half hours after the journey began, police cars pulled up either side of the man's car and Mary Kate said she jumped out and ran to a policeman.

''I couldn't let go of the policeman, I was crying and shaking.'' She said.

The man was arrested but Mary Kate said she did not want to press charges as he was ill and jail 'would not be the best place for him'. The man is now in a mental hospital and will be deported back to Sweden.