Thirty kilometres out from Palmerston North, a 63-year-old woman crashed her car down a bank and spent three wintry nights injured in a bush.
But she wasn't alone - her trusty dog kept her company throughout the entire ordeal.
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Kerry Jordan left Masterton before dawn last Thursday morning, promising a friend she would text once she arrived in Palmerston North.
It's a journey that should have taken an hour and 20 minutes, but the following day she still hadn't been in touch with her friend, Fiona Northe. By Monday, after a weekend of unanswered calls and texts, Northe was seriously worried - and then she got a call from police.
Jordan had been found alive down a steep 45m bank next to the Pahiatua Track, 60km north of Masterton and 30km east of her destination, Palmerston North.
She'd driven off the road and crashed her car, breaking her ankle and crushing her chest and sternum in the impact. She managed to crawl from the wreckage and take shelter under a bush, the Wairarapa Times-Age reports.
Her beloved border collie Pat was in the car with her, and Northe told the paper he kept his owner company over the following three nights, during which time the temperature in the area dropped as low as 7C.
Emergency services were alerted to the crash on Sunday after two passing hikers reportedly came across the wreck. Pat's barking alerted them to where Jordan was sheltering, the Wairarapa Times-Age reports.
The Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter transported her to hospital, where she was treated in intensive care.
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