Crashing at least 60 feet down embankment into water, Modesto driver in car for hours
A Modesto driver sat in her partially submerged car for at least several hours after crashing down an embankment 60 to 70 feet and coming to rest at the edge of a pool of water, according to the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District.
It was not immediately known when the crash in the area of Claribel and Tim Bell roads southeast of Oakdale occurred. According to the California Highway Patrol’s online Traffic Incident Information Page, a family driving to Oakdale spotted the car about 10:45 a.m. but figured it was abandoned. “But on their return trip, somebody (in the same vehicle) thought they saw her,” Stanislaus Battalion Chief Eric DeHart said by phone Sunday afternoon.
According to the CHP incident summary, the call to 911 was about 2:20 p.m. Rescuers found Marrya Canales, 48, of Modesto, sitting in the car but able to open the door and get out on her own, DeHart said. It’s possible she stayed in the car because it was partially in water and the embankment was steep, he said. Because the car was on a slope, the water inside it was mostly on the passenger side, he said.
Canales said she thought she’d been sitting there only a couple of hours, DeHart said. She was alert and talking, he said, but told responders she believes she lost consciousness.
Canales said she was run off the road by a truck, DeHart said, but “she seemed a little altered,” so the accuracy of her account was hard to determine. Also, it could not immediately be determined if her altered consciousness was a result of the crash or preceded it, he said.
She suffered minor to moderate injuries — “certainly not life-threatening,” the battalion chief said — and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
An air ambulance had been dispatched to the scene and circled above, DeHart said, but once responders made contact with the driver, they determined the helicopter was unnecessary. A rope system was used to get rescuers to her and to get her back up to the road.
Canales apparently made no mention of whether she had a cell phone and, if so, had tried to call for help, DeHart said.
The crash, in the Paulsell Valley area, drew the CHP, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, Oak Valley Ambulance and Stanislaus Consolidated and Modesto Fire crews.
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
