Katie Tunn, 32, from Berkshire was rescued from the Shiant Isles last week
The young woman who had to be rescued after she tried to survive 40 days alone on a remote island has been revealed as Katie Tunn – one the finalists of the failed Channel 4 programme Eden.
Just days into her experiment the 32-year-old artist from Berkshire was rescued last week from the Shiant Isles in the Outer Hebrides.
Eden tasked 23 volunteers with creating a new society in the Scottish Highlands in a year back in March 2016.
Despite plans to document the action with regular broadcasts throughout, just four episodes were aired during participants time in the community.
Tunn was also one of the few to make it to the end of Channel 4’s failed experiment.
And it seems she was eager to return to the wilderness.
She chose to live in self-imposed exile and decided to venture to the Shiant Isles where she would live alone for 40 days.
But on day 12 she fell and hit her head on the rocks.
The ‘severe knock’ developed into an acute headache and four days later – less than half way into her expedition – she radioed the coastguard who dispatched a lifeboat.
She was taken to the Western Isles hospital in Stornoway.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman said: ‘We believe the casualty’s intention was to stay on the islands without human contact for 40 days.
‘However, following a fall she requested assistance. She had not been on the island for very long.
She was taken by lifeboat to the Western Isles hospital in Stornoway where she was treated
Undeterred, Tunn has vowed to return to the Shiant Isles to complete her latest adventure
‘Stornoway RNLI lifeboat were tasked to transfer a casualty having had a head knock from the Shiant islands to Stornoway harbour.
‘Stornoway Coastguard rescue team CRT provided safety cover and assisted the casualty transfer to Western Isles hospital.’
But undeterred, Tunn has vowed to return to the Shiant Isles to complete her latest stretch in the wild.
She told The Times she had been given the all-clear by doctors, adding: ‘I was having a wonderful time, comfortable and very reluctant to leave my perfect island home. The choice was taken out of my hands once the doctor had given his advice.
‘The trip has been magical and I can’t wait to get back to complete it.’
Ms Tunn moved to Skye four years ago after spending most of her twenties in London.
Speaking before her solo expedition, Ms Tunn said: ‘I will have no human contact, no electricity, no entertainment such as books or sketchpads. I’ll be completely alone… wildlife and the landscape will be my only company.’
The Shiant Isles in north-west Scotland are home to puffins, guillemots, razorbills, shags and great skuas
Into the wilderness: Tunn was trying to survive on the remote island, a habitat for various seabird species
Before the woman’s arrival, the Shiant Isles were best known as a seabird habitat for puffins, guillemots, razorbills, shags and great skuas.
Only last month they were officially declared rat-free thanks to a £1million four-year-long project to restore them as a nesting haven.
The black rats that had infested the isles were descended from those shipwrecked more than a century ago.
Compton Mackenzie – the author of the novel Whisky Galore – owned the islands in the 1920s. Unsurprisingly, the author never chose to live there.