Woman Survives Unscathed After Car Falls 80 Feet

She went off the cliff and toward the Kalama River
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 31, 2021 7:00 AM CST

A driver somehow managed to emerge with nothing but cold feet after sliding off a cliff in the snow and falling at least 80 feet in Washington state. KPTV reports the incident occurred near Kalama around 7:30am Tuesday, when a woman's pickup truck slid off the road, into an embankment, and then went over a cliff in Cowlitz County and toward the Kalama River below, flipping over as it fell. Cowlitz County Fire District #5 Chief Victor Leatzow says the car would have gone into the river if not for a couple of trees that stopped it. "She went between two trees and hit the cedar tree and actually broke the cedar tree," Leatzow said. "When it came down into that rock chute, it wedged her vehicle between the cedar tree and the side of the rock chute."

The woman was able to remove herself from the car and make it to a nearby ledge, where she began calling out for help. KOIN reports a driver spotted tire tracks leading off the road, pulled over, and managed to hear her cries. He drove to get cell service and called 911. "If it hadn’t been for that, she might still be out there," Leatzow said. Rescue teams used ropes to get to the woman and bring her up in a process that took about 2.5 hours. Leatzow describes the whole thing as a miracle: "Out of a 1000-yard area on that corner of the river that is the only—the only—spot that’s not 40-60 feet straight up and down rock wall." (More car crash stories.)

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