Woman trapped in overturned car for 11 hours reunites with rescuers

  • 07/08/2017

A woman who was pulled out alive after spending 11 hours trapped in her crashed car last week has had an emotional reunion with the tradies who stopped to help her.

Bronwen Jones spent the night in freezing conditions in her upturned vehicle, after hitting black ice near Taumaranui last Sunday.

"I just put my foot on the brake to slow down a little bit and just felt myself slide, and there was nothing I could do," Ms Jones told Three's The Project.

"I hit my head and that's all I remember until I woke up and I was on my side jammed up against the roof."

The 49-year-old spent the night trying to get the attention of passing cars to no avail.

"I heard a car come past and I just screamed with all my might. And it went straight past and it was soul destroying. It was just so hard.

"Once it was morning I could hear some fantails, and I was just about ready to go; I was just so cold and so tired. I couldn't really hang on much longer. So I just said to the birds, 'Okay, I'm going to go to sleep. You go and tell somebody that I'm just having a rest.'"

That's when Ricky Balloch pulled over in his van, and prepared the rest of his team for the worst.

"I said to the guys, 'I hope you guys are ready for this, but I think we may see a dead body here.'"

But, after yelling out, Mr Balloch heard someone yelling back.

"It was one of the best sounds I've ever heard," Ms Jones says. "I knew I was going to be okay.

"I owe you guys my life, I really do. Because I was giving up and you guys kept me strong. I wish there were more people out there like you... Your mums would be very proud."

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