An Indiana woman, trapped in her car with severe leg injuries, managed to survive for nearly a week by sucking water from a sweatshirt she dipped into a small creek, according to authorities.
A worker operating drainage equipment spotted Brieonna Cassell’s vehicle off a road on Tuesday near Brook, a town in Newton County, Sheriff Shannon Cothran stated in a social media post.
The worker informed his supervisor, who also serves as a fire chief, and together they discovered Cassell inside the car. She was conscious and able to communicate, the sheriff said.
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, and the 41-year-old woman from Wheatfield was rescued from the vehicle and airlifted to a hospital in Chicago, he added.
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Cassell had been reported missing by her family several days before she was found, according to the sheriff. She had been trapped since Thursday night after dozing off at the wheel and veering off the road into a ditch, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told. The vehicle was not visible from the roadway.
Caldwell told the outlet that his daughter had sustained injuries to her legs and wrist and that her phone had been located under the passenger seat.
“She was stuck in the car and could not get out,” Caldwell said. “But she was able to reach the water from the car,” he added.
Cassell was able to dip her hooded sweatshirt into the creek and bring it to her mouth to drink, he said.
By Wednesday, Cassell was in stable condition at the hospital and was scheduled for surgery due to concerns about the healing of her legs, her mother informed Cothran, who shared the update on social media.
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According to a post on a GoFundMe page created to assist with her medical expenses, both of Cassell’s legs were broken, as well as her wrist.
During the time she was missing, family members had searched extensively for her, walking miles along roads and ditches, the post mentioned.
“Her outlook for recovery is good but it will be a long road to recovery,” the sheriff said.