A 68-year-old retired nurse from Washington State has recounted how she survived an astonishing five days trapped in her wrecked Mitsubishi in freezing temperatures. Lynnell McFarland’s car spun out of control when she hit black ice while driving at night through Blewett Pass, a mountainous region. “I knew I was going downhill, when it happened,” she told the Seattle Times. “But what actually happened was my car went head over heels.” When the car flew off the road and lodged between two trees, she hit the dashboard and fractured bones in her arm and knee. She spent five days trapped, using clothes and plastic bags she found in the car for warmth; she only drank small amounts of rain water she could catch. Her daughter was quick to notice her mom’s absence and alerted authorities. However, McFarland claims that both police and hunters came close to her, but she wasn’t rescued until she was spotted by transportation workers. After three surgeries, she was able to spend Christmas home with her daughter.
