Woman stranded in car 5 days after crash is rescued

A Colorado woman is recovering after being stranded in her car for five days after crashing off a rural highway south west of Denver.

Passersby who happened to stop on scenic US Highway 285 near Fairplay spotted the car about 80 feet below in an aspen grove.

They hiked down to the vehicle and called authorities.

Hopkins was flown by helicopter to St. Anthony Hospital in suburban Denver, Park County undersheriff Monte Gore said. She was in critical condition Monday, said hospital spokeswoman Loralee Sturm. Hopkins’ family issued a statement saying she will lose both her feet because of injuries sustained in the crash and is expected to survive.

Hopkins drove off the roadway near the old mining town of Fairplay sometime after she was last seen on April 27. The accident occurred beneath a spot overlooking the sprawling ranchlands and surrounding mountains of Colorado’s South Park area.

Her 2009 Chevrolet Malibu struck multiple trees and rolled several times before landing on its top.

Hopkins had been entered into a statewide police database as a missing person. But since she is an adult and there were no indications of foul play, there was no active search for her.

When rescuers reached the car Sunday, firefighter Jim Cravener asked a colleague to break a window and feel for a pulse.

“He started to break the window and she put her hand up to the window,” Cravener said. “At that point, it became a rescue.”

Hopkins’ notes on the umbrella were hard to make out but appeared to say, “six days, no food, no water; please help me; need a doctor,” Cravener said.

“It’s really something off that ‘Shouldn’t Be Alive’ show,” he said. “She really had a strong will to survive.”

Rescuers set to work cutting into the vehicle, pulling out Hopkins and taking her to the helicopter. It was a complicated extrication because of the location, said Cravener.

Hopkins was fairly responsive at first, even telling her rescuers she was not hurt. But they could see her face was badly bruised, possibly by the steering wheel or air bag.

“She didn’t talk a whole lot. She started to become less responsive as we carried her down the hill. We had to keep waking her up,” Cravener said.

The area had spring snow storms but not bitterly cold temperatures in the past several days.

Sightseers often stop at the spot but usually in the fall when the leaves are turning color. It was just by chance that somebody would stop at this time of year, Cravener said.

Her family thanked people for their thoughts and prayers.

Agencies/Canadajournal