A 41-year-old woman was found alive on Tuesday after being trapped in her car for six days following a crash in northwest Indiana, officials reported.
Brieonna Cassell went missing last Wednesday after leaving her mother’s home to visit a friend near the towns of Wheatfield and DeMotte, Indiana, according to CNN affiliate WLS.
The mother of three reportedly fell asleep at the wheel before her car veered off the road and into a deep ditch in the small town of Brook, approximately 80 miles south of Chicago, WLS reported.
Cassell’s car had crashed off the road, hidden from view of passing traffic, and no one could hear her calls for help, according to family and the Newton County Sheriff’s Office.
Cassell’s parents stated during a Tuesday news conference that she was also unable to move her legs due to injuries sustained in the crash.
Her phone had also lost power, so to survive, Cassell used her sweater to collect water from a nearby creek, wringing it out and drinking it, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told reporters.
“She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help,” Caldwell told WLS.
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office said in a Tuesday statement that Cassell was found by Johnny Martinez, a passerby operating drainage equipment in the area.
Martinez contacted his supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also a fire chief in the nearby town of Morocco.
The two later found Cassell alone in her car, “conscious and speaking,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
“Despite her injuries, Cassell had survived 6 days waiting to be rescued,” the statement read.
Cassell was rescued and airlifted to a Chicago hospital, the sheriff’s office said. She was placed in the ICU and will undergo surgery on Wednesday for severe injuries to her legs, ribs, and wrist, WLS reported.
“I could feel something was wrong in my gut and I started panicking,” Cassell’s mother, Kim Brown, told reporters Tuesday.
“I just can’t wait to hug her and kiss her, which I probably can’t do,” Brown said.
“It’s going to be a long road to recovery,” Caldwell told reporters.
