Woman Found Alive on California Beach, 7 Days After Surviving Big Sur Crash
An Oregon woman who accidentally drove her Jeep off a 200-foot cliff in Big Sur, California, was found alive by hikers, who called 911 after finding her seven days later.
"A report of a vehicle injury accident for a vehicle off of a cliff," a 911 dispatcher said after the emergency call was made. "The vehicle and the female are going to be about 200 feet down. She is conscious and breathing."
Angela Hernandez, 23, was driving along northern California’s majestic Big Sur when she swerved to avoid an animal. The sudden turn sent her sailing off the cliff. She was missing for a week.
Chad and Chelsea Moore were walking the beach below the cliff when they came upon her wrecked Jeep.
"It looked like there wouldn't have been any survivors," Chelsea told KION.
But it was nothing short of a miracle as they found Hernandez badly injured, but alive.
“Angela was right there in rocks,” Chad added. “She looked like hell. We asked her, ‘Were you in the Jeep?’ She said, 'That was my Jeep.'
Chelsea called 911 and told the dispatcher what she witnessed. The dispatcher relayed the message to rescuers and gave the instructions on how to locate everyone.
For seven days, her family awaited word on what had happened to her.
Rescuers hauled Angela up the cliff on a stretcher and she was rushed to a hospital with a brain hemorrhage, collapsed lung and fractured ribs, shoulder and collar bones.
She wrote about her ordeal on Facebook: "I could feel water rising over my knees. Every bone in my body hurt. I was able to break out of my car. I saw a huge patch of moss with water dripping down from it. I tasted it. It was fresh!"
She says she had no food but improvised by turning the radiator hose from her vehicle into a canteen to collect water from a tiny spring each day.
Survival expert Shane Hobel says he's impressed at Angelia’s ingenuity.
"The fact that she was able to get some water is what saved her within those seven days," Hobel told Inside Edition.
Chad and Chelsea say Angela is a hero, calling her a “total legend.”
"She's here for a reason and we were there for a reason and we're so glad she's OK," they said.
RELATED STORIES
200 People Rescued From Grand Canyon as Rain Causes Intense Flooding
How Soccer Players Are Connecting With Rescued Thai Boys
Thailand Cave Rescue: Soccer Team's Ordeal May Get Hollywood Treatment
