A man who went missing after a motorcycle crash earlier this month was found in a ditch after he’d been lying there for three days – and remarkably survived.
Taylor Boyle was riding his motorcycle on a back road in a rural area in Powell, Tennessee, when he went missing, his friend Cameron Williams told CNN.
His family had filed a missing person report after they grew concerned because they had not heard from him, the outlet reported.
One of his friends was expecting him to arrive with a McDonald’s breakfast at his house, as he made his way from Fountain City to Heiskell in Tennessee, but never showed up, Mr Williams told WBIR-TV.
The family monitored his phone and checked his bank details, but nothing came up.
He last spoke to his family at around 10am on 15 October and even as they entered the third day of his disappearance, they said they never gave up hope.
Mr Boyle was on his way to his friend’s house with a McDonalds breakfact when the crash happened— (Knox County Sheriff’s Offce)
Mr Williams said that he and his group of friends started to search possible areas Mr Boyle could have been in, but it led them to nowhere.
“On Tuesday evening [17 October], there were probably five vehicles with three to five people in each vehicle that kind of broke down in different areas of the town and started looking in ditches and ravines,” Mr Williams told CNN.
They searched for their friend until the sun went down; that is when part of the search party spotted something reflecting back their flashlights.
Brandon Lawson, Ryan French and Chase Lovelace at first spotted the motorcycle, which had crashed down an embankment between 30 to 50 feet off the back road.
They ventured down to see if Mr Boyle was near.
Friends were happy when they found Mr Boyle and his motorcycle lying in an embankment— (Cameron Williams/Facebook)
“They were kind of scared, you know, what they might find when they got there,” Mr Williams said. “But he was awake.”
"He seemed to be pretty coherent and awake and not in pain," Mr Williams told WBIR-TV.
"I think we really lucked up this time."
The group called 911 to tell the police department they had found Mr Boyle, who miraculously managed to survive despite being stuck for almost three days in the forest area with a very hard hit to the head.
Mr Boyle, who is still in hospital, is being treated for the head injury and a dislocation to his elbow, Mr Williams told CNN.
He reportedly was suffering from a brain bleed and a concussion, which meant when his friends found him, he had no idea what sort of dangerous situation he was in, the New York Post reported.
Doctors said the motorcyclist has a long road ahead of him but is expected to make a full recovery.
