Man survives FIVE DAYS in his smashed car in the wilderness after plunging 150ft down a wooded ravine
- Danny Sansbury was found alive down a ravine in Washington state on Sunday
- The 56-year-old had been reported missing last week
- Passersby called 911 after noticing tire tracks leading away from the road
A 56-year-old man has been rescued after surviving five days inside his smashed car in the wilderness following a 150 feet plunge down a ravine.
Danny Sansbury was found alive on Sunday morning after passersby noticed tire tracks leading away from a roadway in Cowlitz County in southwest Washington state and called 911.
His green pickup truck was discovered down a steep and wooded ravine, according to the Cowlitz County Fire & Rescue Department.
‘Firefighters hiked down the hill through waist deep brush expecting the worst, but found the driver of the truck was still alive but severely injured and ill,’ the fire department said in a statement on Facebook.
Sansbury, who was seriously injured, was reporting missing last week, and Sheriff’s deputies at the scene confirmed the truck matched the description of his vehicle.
Danny Sansbury was found alive after plunging 150 feet plunge down a ravine in Washington state
He was found on Sunday morning after passersby noticed tire tracks leading away from a roadway in Cowlitz County. Sansbury’s green pickup truck pictured above
His friend of 30 years Terri Peck said she couldn’t believe Sansbury survived for days in the wilderness
A rope system was set up to get Sansbury up the steep hillside after he was removed the beat up truck.
He was then taken by ambulance to a nearby school where a Lifeflight helicopter picked him up and took him to Peace Health Southwest, where he remains in critical condition.
‘I still can’t believe he survived for six days like that,’ his friend of 30 years Terri Peck told the local CBS affiliate KOIN 6 News.
Terri claimed that she knew he was in a ravine when she heard he was missing and had been going down a couple of ravines when he was found.
Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Joe Tone told the local outlet authorities had been looking into any possible foul play before Sansbury was found alive.
‘They had no idea where the gentleman was at, and we were going down that typical missing persons-type path until the citizen – local – found the car,’ said Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Joe Tone.
The fire department said the entire rescue took about an hour, and the Longview Fire Department was called in to assist.
Lt. Andy Worth told KOIN 6 News that being down the ravine without food or water for days ‘definitely’ affected Sansbury’s injuries.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s office for more information.
