This is the stuff that movies are made of: a 23-year-old musician from Oregon, Angela Hernandez, drove her Jeep Patriot off a 250ft cliff and was stranded on a deserted beach for 7 whole days. She survived.
In a post on her Facebook page, Hernandez recalls the “beautiful” drive she was on on July 6, in Big Sur. At one point, a small animal crossed the road and she swerved to avoid it, which, in turn, made her lose control of the car. The Jeep went off the cliff and fell about 250ft onto a small patch of beach that disappears completely with the tide.
Though she doesn’t recall much of the fall, Hernandez says that, when she woke up, she had water to her knees and she immediately realized she must get to higher ground. Every bone in her body hurt, but she still managed to get out of the car and appraise her situation.
It didn’t look good: she didn’t remember the fall, but the cliff was there. And it meant she had no way of going back up to the road.
For days, she did nothing much but scream at the top of her lungs, in the hope that someone from the passing cars overheard would hear her and call for help. She also tried to fight off dehydration by licking dew and did her best to tend to her injuries.
To her good fortune, a couple of hikers found the wreck of the car and started looking around. They found Hernandez on top of a rock, looking “like hell” and thinking she was dreaming about saviors. In almost no time, she was lifted back to the road and a helicopter took her to the hospital.
Her Jeep was totaled, as you can see from the photos. Despite the many injuries sustained, including a brain hemorrhage, fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, a fractured collar bone, intense sunburn and broken vessels in both her eyes, Hernandez says she’s actually thrilled by the experience she went through.
“I feel like I have everything I've ever wanted,” she writes. “I've met some of the most beautiful human beings that I think I'll ever meet in my entire life. I've experienced something so unique and terrifying and me that I can't imagine that there isn't a bigger purpose for me in this life.”
“I don't know, you guys, life is incredible,” she concludes.
Though she doesn’t recall much of the fall, Hernandez says that, when she woke up, she had water to her knees and she immediately realized she must get to higher ground. Every bone in her body hurt, but she still managed to get out of the car and appraise her situation.
It didn’t look good: she didn’t remember the fall, but the cliff was there. And it meant she had no way of going back up to the road.
For days, she did nothing much but scream at the top of her lungs, in the hope that someone from the passing cars overheard would hear her and call for help. She also tried to fight off dehydration by licking dew and did her best to tend to her injuries.
To her good fortune, a couple of hikers found the wreck of the car and started looking around. They found Hernandez on top of a rock, looking “like hell” and thinking she was dreaming about saviors. In almost no time, she was lifted back to the road and a helicopter took her to the hospital.
Her Jeep was totaled, as you can see from the photos. Despite the many injuries sustained, including a brain hemorrhage, fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, a fractured collar bone, intense sunburn and broken vessels in both her eyes, Hernandez says she’s actually thrilled by the experience she went through.
“I feel like I have everything I've ever wanted,” she writes. “I've met some of the most beautiful human beings that I think I'll ever meet in my entire life. I've experienced something so unique and terrifying and me that I can't imagine that there isn't a bigger purpose for me in this life.”
“I don't know, you guys, life is incredible,” she concludes.