A happy ending for an accident that would normally be a tragedy occurred in Arizona thanks to the swift thinking of two state transportation workers. The two workers were helping a rancher corral a bull on the other side of a fence on the highway when they noticed that a portion of the fence was abnormally damaged.
There were tracks leading off the edge of the road straight through the fence.
Highway technician Zach Moralez claims that he said to the others that he bets if he hops over the hill, there will be a car down there. The three found a mangled car that landed in a mesquite tree. They proceeded to the vehicle, and checked the vehicle, which was empty.
Maintenance crew members and a Department of Public Safety trooper also arrived, and they fanned out looking for the driver of the vehicle. A footprint was found, and Moralez and the rancher followed the footprints for 500 yards before coming across a 53-year-old woman.
The woman was able to make her way to the dry riverbed, but she suffered from severe dehydration. The woman was still alert. She was asked questions and had signs of facial injuries. Found in the fetal position, the woman’s horror story ended when she was airlifted to a hospital within 15 minutes. There was no movement from the woman, but she did respond to some of the questions that were being asked.
She remembers driving on the U.S. 60 highway when she lost control of her vehicle, going through the fence and plunging 50 feet to land in the trees.
She states that after the car accident, she spent several days in the vehicle before trying to find help. She was too weak to make it and ended up near the riverbed. She was attempting to make it to the nearby railway tracks in hopes that someone would find her and would help. Due to her injuries and dehydration, she made it just 500 yards before collapsing to the floor.
The woman has declined to comment on the accident and has declined all media requests. Her condition remains unknown.
Police claim that the woman survived on water and grass during the ordeal. The tree helped reduce the impact of the accident, remaining above the ground. Authorities claim that the woman would not likely have lived another day on the dry river bed.
The two transportation workers and rancher are credited with saving the woman’s life.
