Woman Stuck in Overturned Car for Days

Kristin Hopkins' feet were amputated
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 5, 2014 6:35 PM CDT
Updated May 6, 2014 1:00 AM CDT
Mom Trapped in Car for Days Faces Amputation
In this May 2014, photo provided by the Park County Sheriff’s Office, Kristin Hopkins' car is seen after she drove off the roadway near the old mining town of Fairplay, Colo.   (AP Photo/Park County Sheriff’s Office)

A Colorado woman who survived for days in an overturned car was rescued Sunday, but had to have her feet amputated yesterday, USA Today reports. Kristin Hopkins, 43, a single mother of four, was driving at night when she crashed about 140 feet from a scenic highway. Her Chevrolet Malibu likely went airborne, hit several trees, and rolled down a steep embankment before stopping in a grove of aspen trees, a patrol officer told Reuters. Stuck in the car, she reportedly wrote notes on a red and white umbrella and tried using it to flag down passersby.

Her notes were hard to read, but seemed to say "Please help doors won't open," "Please help, bleeding, need a doctor," and "Six days, no food, no water, please help," said firefighter Jim Cravener. A man who stopped to shoot pictures spotted the car, walked down to it, and reported finding a body inside. Firefighters came and were about to smash a window when Hopkins put a hand against the glass. "It’s really something off that Shouldn’t Be Alive show," Cravener told the Daily News. "She really had a strong will to survive." Hopkins is in critical but stable condition, and doctors expect her to live. (More car accident stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X