A woman who was stranded in her pickup for nearly five days after a crash off a Southern California mountain road survived by drinking rainwater through a crack in the damaged truck's windshield, her family said.
The pickup tumbled 200 feet off Mount Baldy Road Wednesday and ended up on its side in rough terrain. The victim remained trapped in the wreckage for five frigid days with no cellphone reception to call for help.
"How can anybody stand that for five days? She's strong," said Bill Cubbs, the woman's stepfather.
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Members of the team that airlifted her to safety Sunday agreed.
"Her surviving it, not only the accident but also the elements, is a New Year's miracle," said Capt. Matt Brossard, of the U.S. Forest Service.
Five wet and extremely cold days followed the crash in Angeles National Forest northeast of Los Angeles.
Cubbs said his step-daughter survived by drinking water seeping through a crack in the Ford Ranger's windshield.
"She didn't have any water," Cubbs said. "The only way she got water was, the windshield was cracked and she got water from the rain."
Firefighters were on another call on Mount Baldy when they were flagged down by a fisherman. The woman told rescuers she lost control of the pickup after trying to avoid a deer on the road. After she was removed from the wreckage and secured to rescue basket, a helicopter crew lifted her to safety.
Her step-father expressed gratitude for everyone involved in the rescue.
"The fisherman, if he wasn't down there she couldn't have made it one more night," Cubbs said.
The woman was in stable condition Monday at the hospital. Cubbs said she is recovering from hypothermia and a leg injury,
