An Arizona woman is alive after spending six days out in the desert following a serious car accident, and it’s all thanks to a few concerned workers who sensed that something was wrong.
“I believe people are put in the right place in the right time,” Arizona transportation worker Zach Moralez told The Associated Press following the miraculous rescue last month.
Moralez first suspected something was wrong when he notice a damaged fence along the highway. Vehicle tracks trailed off the side of the road and through the fence at the edge of a hill, and the highway operations technician knew that a car was at the bottom.
He, his co-worker Josh Miller and his rancher brother Dave Moralez did find the vehicle, which landed in a mesquite tree after experiencing a 50-foot drop. The driver, however, was nowhere to be found.
“We got down there as quick as we could, hollering out if anyone could hear us,” Moralez told the AP Wednesday. “No response.”
Whoever was in the vehicle when it crashed was likely in critical condition, if alive at all. But that didn’t stop Moralez and his crew.
Woman Disabled in Crash Survived Six Days Before Her Rescue in Wickenburg
Read more at https://t.co/1JTAcX2bTe pic.twitter.com/2yrgXlYfmW— Dept. Public Safety (@Arizona_DPS) October 31, 2018
They called Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Caleb Hiegel, who helped them locate a 53-year-old woman lying in a dry riverbed. She was seriously injured and extremely dehydrated, according to an official report.
“She was in the fetal position, and there was no movement,” Moralez said. “We started asking her a bunch of questions: ‘How long have you been here? Do you have any pain?’”
Despite her dire condition, the woman was able to open her eyes and respond to their questions. She explained that she had been involved in a crash on Oct. 12 — six days prior.
The woman said she was driving on U.S. 60 when she lost control of her car. After camping out inside the car for several days, she made an attempt to venture out toward some railroad tracks to seek help, but she was too weak, according to authorities.
Moralez and his group saw her footprints, which led them to her on Oct. 18. The woman was dirty from sleeping on the desert floor and had facial trauma.
About 15 minutes after the miraculous discovery, the woman was airlifted to a local hospital.
DPS spokesman Quentin Mehr told the AP the woman has declined all media requests and did not provide any details about her current condition.
DPS Director Col. Frank Milstead applauded the men who went out of their way to find the woman.
“The diligence of the ADOT crew and teamwork of everyone involved is exemplary and to be commended,” he said in a press release. “Due to their outstanding efforts, this woman’s life was saved.”