Kevin Bell, 39, and his girlfriend were on their way to a birthday party in Indiana Saturday when his car lost control and hit a tree.
The car plummeted off the highway and fell 30 metres down an embankment, instantly killing 37-year-old Nikki Reed.
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Bell on the other hand survived, but was trapped for three days with his girlfriend’s body, in agonizing pain with his legs pinned in a mangled 1999 Ford Explorer.
He survived by drinking Gatorade.
Bell had broken his leg and rib and was unable to get out of the car. Then, on Tuesday, Bell managed to pry himself free and crawl his way back to the road.
“I was still in shock the whole time I didn’t know if my body was ready to leave the truck and I thought I was still trapped and couldn’t get out,” Bell told CBS.
He told the network it took him about four hours of crawling to get out of the ravine and onto the road. He was going to dial 911 but his phone had died.
A passerby eventually stopped and called for help.
“Nothing I’ve dealt with like this,” Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, a spokesman for the Indiana State Police, told The Washington Post. “Stories pop up occasionally where someone crashes and aren’t found for a while. It’s very rare, obviously.”
Bell and his girlfriend had been reported missing by their families, after they hadn’t heard from them.
On Sept. 18, police opened a missing persons investigation and started looking for the couple. Friends and family gave out fliers and posted online asking their communities to keep an eye out for them.
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Police said they are currently investigating the crash but believe Bell lost control of the car and ran it off U.S. Route 50 in Jennings County.
Since the car fell so far down off the road, nobody was able to see it from the highway. Police say when the missing persons reports were filed, they scoured the highway many times and saw nothing.
On a crowdfunding website set up to raise money for Reed’s funeral, the family described the three-day ordeal.
“I don’t know what happened or how it happened. All I know is that I want this to not be true, I just wish it was a dream! I love my mom so much! I wish she was still here so I can hug her an tell her I love her one more time!” wrote Brooklyn Reed, Nikki’s daughter.
Bell is currently in hospital in Indiana recovering and should be released Monday.
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