{"id":864198,"date":"2026-08-22T09:16:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T09:16:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/864198\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T09:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T09:16:13","slug":"sorrow-as-community-pays-tribute-to-shining-light-lily-hooper-after-nsw-hiking-tragedy-new-south-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/864198\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorrow as community pays tribute to \u2018shining light\u2019 Lily Hooper after NSW hiking tragedy | New South Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tributes have flowed for 18-year-old Lily Hooper, remembered as an adventurous, multitalented athlete with an infectious smile, after her body was found<\/a> on Thursday afternoon, eight days after she disappeared while hiking in the New South Wales southern highlands.<\/p>\n

The teenager was a fixture across local sporting and community groups in the Wollondilly region, training in martial arts, alongside her job as a Sydney BridgeClimb guide.<\/p>\n

In her home town of Oakdale, the community gathered for a vigil on Friday evening at Willis park. By Saturday morning, the park fence was adorned with flowers, fairy lights and electric candles.<\/p>\n

The Wollondilly Performing Arts Centre and the shire library were illuminated in purple. The mayor, Matt Gould, said on Friday that the community had rarely been as devastated.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrom 5pm this afternoon and across the weekend, Willis Park at Oakdale will become a place for our community to come together and remember Lily Hooper,\u201d Gould said, adding that Red Cross volunteers were on site \u201cto support anyone who may need someone to talk to\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] just an opportunity for everyone to come together and show the level of support there is for the family, and just to look out for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flags across the region, including at the Oakdale Rural Fire Service, flew at half mast. The brigade said in a statement that the community is navigating a \u201cdeep sorrow \u2026 as we all remember the shining light that has touched so many of us\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u2018A talented and tough martial artist\u2019<\/p>\n

Hooper trained at Toodokan Self Defence Academy, which cancelled classes on Thursday afternoon after the news. The academy said in a tribute that Lily was \u201ca beautiful soul, taken far too soon\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Her martial arts instructor, Mark Szalajko, said he would miss her smile and conversation, describing her as a talented, tough fighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a talented and tough martial artist, but despite that toughness, Lily was such a lovely person. She was one of those people who everyone simply liked,\u201d he said. \u201cI will really miss her smile, her conversations and the moments we shared on the mat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further tributes came from the Oaks Netball Club, which said it was \u201cdevastated by the loss\u201d, with members to wear black armbands in her memory at games over the weekend.<\/p>\n

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The Burragorang District Soccer Club also posted a tribute on social media in Hooper\u2019s honour: \u201cOur community has lost a truly beautiful person, and our hearts are heavy with sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hooper\u2019s high school, Campbelltown Performing Arts \u2013 where she graduated in 2025 \u2013 remembered her as a \u201ckind, humorous and respectful young woman who lit up every room with her infectious smile, positive energy and determination to live life to its fullest\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI am so proud of the woman you became \u2026 You are so loved my musical angel,\u201d one commenter wrote under the school\u2019s tribute.<\/p>\n

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Another commented \u201cI feel incredibly privileged to have known her and to have shared so many memorable moments with her. What I will remember most is the loyalty she had for her beautiful best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney Harbour BridgeClimb, where Hooper worked as a guide, issued a statement saying she was \u201can absolute delight from the moment she joined and lit up every space with her smile and enthusiasm\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was compassionate, a friend to all, motivated and had a positive impact on everyone she connected with,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cHer loss is felt deeply throughout our team, and Lily\u2019s family and loved ones are in our thoughts and our hearts, today and always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Map showing Nattai national park<\/a><\/p>\n

Police initially told Hooper\u2019s family she was alive<\/a>, with footage circulated by Channel Seven showing the elation of friends and family. Her father, Jim Hooper, showed off a guitar and packet of Tim Tams he had brought to the site \u201cbecause it might lure her out of the bush\u201d. Hope was shattered barely 30 minutes later.<\/p>\n

The police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, later told reporters in Goulburn that the devastating miscommunication was \u201cborn out of elation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cTragically, that miscommunication then led to a deflation, and obviously, we know now, an impact on her family,\u201d Lanyon said.<\/p>\n

The assistant commissioner Joseph Cassar told reporters in Moss Vale on Thursday afternoon that the searchers had carried handheld radios and faced communication challenges in the \u201cthick, dense terrain\u201d.<\/p>\n

Hooper, an experienced hiker, had been found dead off the trail, a \u201csignificant distance\u201d from her car.<\/p>\n

The Wollondilly Rotary Club established a fundraiser to support the Hooper family after her disappearance.<\/p>\n

\u201cLily\u2019s kindness, spirit, and connection to the Oakdale and Wollondilly regions, along with her family, has touched many lives, and our club is committed to standing beside her family during this difficult time,\u201d the club said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tributes have flowed for 18-year-old Lily Hooper, remembered as an adventurous, multitalented athlete with an infectious smile, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":864199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-864198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}