Woman who flew 50ft off Arizona highway found alive after six days in desert
A woman miraculously managed to survive alone for six days in the Arizona desert after her car plunged 50ft off a highway and landed in a tree.
The 53-year-old woman was driving along the rain-slicked US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona, on October 12, when she lost control of her car, crashing through a fence and plummeting 50ft down a ravine.
But in a rare silver lining, rather than smashing into the ground, something which would have probably turned out to be fatal, her vehicle “landed in a mesquite tree where it remained suspended above the ground,” according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The woman, who has not been identified, was found when a highway maintenance crew member and a rancher who were chasing cattle noticed a hole in the fence. As they stood by the damaged fence they noticed the car in the tree and called the emergency services.
“I said, 'There's tracks right off the edge of the road through the fence,” local rancher David Moralez told The Associated Press. “I said, 'Hop over that hill, I bet you there's a car down there.”
Trooper Caleb Hiegel arrived and the group proceeded to see whether there was anyone in the car. They didn’t find anyone in it, but they did notice human traces leading towards the Hassayampa river bed.
After following them for some 500 yards, the rescuers finally found the woman, who was found seriously injured and with severe dehydration having incredibly survived on just grass and water for just under a week.
The woman told Hiegel that she had stayed in her vehicle for several days before she resolved to get out to find help.
She said she had tried screaming for help but her calls went unheard.
AZDPS’ Director, Colonel Frank Milstead, commended the efforts of all those involved in the woman’s rescue, saying their “outstanding” work had saved her life.
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