An Indiana mom of three miraculously survived nearly a week trapped in her car — by using her sweatshirt to drink water — after she’d fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed into a ditch.
Brieonna Cassell, 41, was found Tuesday stuck in her Ford Taurus in a ditch about 80 miles outside of Chicago, where the car had become partially submerged in a streambed and was completely invisible from the roadway above.
“She was in excruciating pain, she was screaming out for help,” her father, Delmar Caldwell, told WLS after the incredible rescue. “She could hear cars going by, but they couldn’t see her from the road.”
It had been six days since Cassell was last seen — she’d driven off from her mother’s house to visit friends but never arrived.
Her family quickly notified police, and the Jasper County Sheriff’s office began posting missing persons posters and searching in vain for the mom of three.
Then on Tuesday a drainage worker was operating equipment in the town of Brooks and came across a Ford Taurus smashed up in the ditch — and when his supervisor arrived they found Cassell alive and awake inside.
“‘That’s you?’ I said, ‘Your family’s been looking for you,’ I said, ‘There are posts everywhere on social media.’ I said, ‘I can’t believe you’ve been in this long,’” said supervisor Jeremy Vanderwall.
Cassell was pulled from the car and airlifted to a Chicago hospital, and details of her harrowing ordeal began to emerge.
“She had [fallen] asleep and veered off the road and went into a very big, deep ditch. It couldn’t be seen from the road,” her father told reporters.
The wreck had also left Cassell with severe leg injuries and pinned beneath the steering wheel, preventing her from climbing out of the car to safety, CNN reported.
Nighttime temperatures dropped into the 20s as she fought to keep calm — and with her phone dead, she was forced to get creative to stay alive.
“She was using her hoodie and wringing it to get a drink of water, trying to survive,” her father said, explaining how Cassell spent the long days dipping her sweatshirt into the creek and drinking down whatever water it absorbed.
“She did what she could to survive,” said her mother, Kim Brown. “I am so glad she was found alive, and I just can’t wait to hug her and kiss her.”
Cassell is undergoing surgery in the ICU Wednesday for injuries she suffered to her wrist, ribs, and legs.
While she is at risk of losing her legs, she is expected to otherwise recover.
“It’s going to be a long road to recovery,” her father said. “Don’t lose hope. Don’t give up. We had thought the worst. It had gone through our minds so many times, but thank God.”
