A missing mother-of-three was found alive six days after crashing her car 12 feet down in a ditch in what authorities call an “incredible testament to her will to live.”
Brieonna Cassell, 41, was en route to visit a friend in the Wheatfield and Demotte area in Northwest Indiana last Wednesday when she disappeared, according to the Newton County Sheriff's Office.
The woman is believed to have fallen asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus and veered off the road while driving near the small town of Brook, around 80 miles south of Chicago.
Cassell crashed into a “very big, deep ditch” that couldn’t be seen from the road, her father Delmar Caldwell told ABC7 Chicago. He added that passersby couldn’t hear her cries for help from their cars.
She became trapped and was largely unable to move inside the vehicle, while her cell phone had run out of battery. Pictures show the car on its side, partially submerged, below the top of the ditch.
To survive, Cassell resorted to flinging her cardigan out of the back window, catching as much puddle water as possible, pulling it back in and then sucking on the cloth.
“She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn't see her from the road,” her father added while revealing Cassell suffered compound fractures in her legs.
Cassell’s family joined rescue teams – comprised of local EMS, fire and air services – and had been searching for the mom for six days when Johnny Martinez, who was operating drainage equipment nearby, spotted a vehicle on Tuesday, the sheriff's office said.
Martinez contacted his supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also the volunteer fire chief in the nearby town of Morocco.
Authorities said Martinez and Vanderwall checked the Ford and found Cassell, the sole occupant of the vehicle, conscious, speaking and waiting for help.
“‘That's you?’ I said, ‘Your family's been looking for you,’” Vanderwall told the local news station. “‘There are posts everywhere on social media.’ I said, ‘I can't believe you've been in this long.’”
“You know, it picked up the water into the shirt, and she would suck the water out of her shirt,” Vanderwall told CBS News. “Her survival mode just was uncanny, you know, her will to live.”
Cassell was rescued and air-lifted to Chicago Hospital, the sheriff's office said. Her family said she had suffered severe injuries to her legs – which they claim she may lose – along with her ribs and wrist.
A fundraiser was set up by Cassell’s daughter, Lexie, to pay for her medical bills. The GoFundMe, which had raised about $2,000 of its $15,000 target by Wednesday morning, also said that Cassell’s legs and wrist are “badly broken.”
The woman was placed in the ICU and is expected to undergo surgery on Wednesday, the family said.
Her father believes that this was a case of falling asleep at the wheel.
“She just fell asleep, and… there was a bridge there, and she just veered over to the left and missed the bridge and ended up in a very deep ditch,” he told CBS News.
Meanwhile, Cassell’s mother, Kim Brown, added, “I just can’t wait to hug her and kiss her, which I probably can’t do.” Brown also said that around 400 cars passed her daughter everyday while she was trapped, oblivious to the situation.
Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran praised Cassell’s rescuers as “heroes” and commended the victim’s resilience.
“You may have seen the story about a crash victim who survived for nearly six days before being discovered,” Cothran said in a statement Tuesday. “That alone is an incredible testament to her will to live. We are grateful for all the well wishes sent her way.”
He continued: “Today, I watched three different volunteer fire departments come together as one, working seamlessly toward the common goal of helping a crash victim. Their teamwork, skill, and dedication are truly inspiring.”
“First and foremost, we owe immense gratitude to Johnny Martinez, who spotted the car in the ditch. In my book, Mr. Martinez is a hero, and we can never thank him enough for his keen eye and quick action,” Cothran also said.
