16 hour nightmare for elderly woman
Elderly resident blacks out, crashes into dense bushes and found 16 hours later.
AN elderly woman spent 16 hours trapped in her car in dense bush just before the Armstrong Avenue offramp from late on Sunday to the early hours of Monday. Paramedics only got to the 66-year-old woman who lost control of her car after a blackout on the busy M41 hairpin bend near the M4 on Sunday at about 4.30pm. The shaken woman was found on Monday morning at 7am. Her car careened off the road.
According to Crisis Medical spokesman Neil Powell, the Hillcrest resident’s family became concerned when she did not return home on time. Powell said the family were frantically calling the woman’s cell phone but to no avail.
“After regaining consciousness, she answered her phone but said she was stuck in the vehicle in a bush but could not advise the family exactly where she was.
“We searched for the accident scene, but were unable to find it. We continued our search in the area and eventually SAPS located the scene in dense bush which was not visible from the road. Her mobile phone was then tracked to a 300m triangular radius, which is where police found the vehicle.
“The driver was fully conscious at this stage but was unable to get out as the vehicle was lying on it’s side,” he said.
Powell added the driver sustained minor bruises and was extremely dehydrated. She was treated for high blood pressure and was taken to Umhlanga Hospital and placed under observation to determine what caused the blackout.
The woman who was trapped in her car for 16 hours has been named. She is 66-year-old Phyllis Hollis. Watch the video of her dramatic rescue.
