Handout/ The Globe and Mail
After a 60-metre fall partway down a cliff, Betty Lyons and her battered sedan were suspended by nothing more than a few trees, with the 80-year-old woman unable to even see the highway she had just plunged from - much less climb the sheer incline.
Cars went by Highway 3, just an hour east of Castlegar, B.C., but Ms. Lyons was so far down the cliff that she could not be seen or heard.
Although her 2007 Acura sedan was badly damaged in the Monday morning accident, Ms. Lyons crawled out of the vehicle with just bruises and cuts, according to police. She slid down the slope in search of a flatter area and waited - for two days.
She had nothing - no food, water, warm clothing or a way to reach the outside world - except for the unshakeable belief that her family would come for her. A day after the RCMP search and rescue helicopter returned no results, Ms. Lyons' family chartered a private helicopter from Vancouver to look for her.
Their hope was rewarded more than 48 hours later after the private helicopter spotted her Acura.
Ms. Lyons, according to police, was headed back to her home in Calgary after visiting the Grand Forks, B.C. area. Less than an hour after leaving on Monday morning, her car went off the road for no known reason.
"We are still investigating that part, but for some reason the car just left the road and went off the cliff," said Sergeant Laurel Mathew of the Castlegar RCMP detachment.
The route from Castlegar to Calgary is approximately 610 kilometres or an eight-hour drive. When Ms. Lyons did not arrive in Calgary on time, her family contacted the police and reported her missing.
Police say they sent a helicopter to look for her but made no sighting. "They [the family]hired a private helicopter to supplement the efforts," Sgt. Mathew said.
Her car was spotted along Highway 3 off the Bombi Summit. "We sighted the car at 4 p.m. on Wednesday," Sgt. Mathew said. Shortly after, Ms. Lyons was found, "hungry and dehydrated" and joked about the way she looked. According to media reports, the first thing Mrs. Lyons said is, "I need a Coke."
A search-and-rescue team carried her up the steep bank on a stretcher. She was taken by ambulance to a clinic in Castlegar and is undergoing a few other tests in Trail. Her vehicle was towed from the site on Thursday afternoon.
"We're glad we found Betty and are happy she's safe," Ms. Lyons' son, Jay, said in a statement. "She is receiving good care. She is a resilient lady and is in good spirits."
In an interview later, he said that at his mother's request, he could not comment further. He said his mother did not want to draw any more attention to herself.
"We're grateful for all the help we received from the local RCMP and search-and-rescue in bringing our search to a positive conclusion," Mr. Lyons said.
With a report from Adrian Morrow