The family members of a 41-year-old woman have said they 'can't wait to hug her and kiss her' after she was miraculously found alive six days after a car crash.
Brieonna Cassell had been on her way to visit a friend in the area of Wheatfield and DeMotte, Indiana last Wednesday (March 5), but her family members became concerned when she went off the grid with no contact.
Cassell's family began looking for her with the help of several Northwest Indiana rescue teams, but it wasn't until Tuesday (March 11) that a worker who was operating equipment for Deyoung Drainage spotted a vehicle off the roadway, out of sight from passing traffic.
After noticing the worrying sight, the worker contacted his supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwall - who just so happened to be a volunteer fire chief.
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Vanderwall arrived at the scene and checked the vehicle, where they found Cassell not only alive, but conscious and speaking.
According to ABC7 News, Cassell's dad, Delmar Caldwell, explained that his daughter had fallen asleep while driving and veered off the road.
He car went into a 'very big, deep ditch', and she wasn't able to move from inside the vehicle. With her phone out of power, Cassell tried screaming for help, but she couldn't be heard.
With no choice but try and save herself, Cassell used her cardigan to collect water from the ditch, then wrung it out to drink from.
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Her dad said: "She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn't see her from the road."
Vanderwall recalled what he said to Cassell when he found her, asking: "'That's you?'"
He continued: "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'."
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After being removed from the car, Cassell was flown to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn to be treated for what her family has said are 'severe' injuries to her legs, ribs, and wrist.
"She did what she could to survive," Kim Brown, Cassell's mother, said. "I am so glad she was found alive, and I just can't wait to hug her and kiss her."
Cassell could be at risk of losing her lower legs as a result of the incident, but after everything the family has been through Caldwell has stressed the importance of not losing hope.
"Don't give up. We had thought the worst. It had gone through our minds so many times, but thank God," he said.
Emily Brown