Car goes off cliff, comes to rest on victim's head
WASCO, Ore. - A car slid off the edge of an icy Oregon highway and crashed 150 feet down a steep cliff early Saturday morning, pinning the head of one of the passengers under the wreckage, Oregon State Police said.
Volunteer emergency crews responded to the scene and went to work in darkness establishing rope lines to reach the crash victims.
Crews used inflatable airbags to lift the wreckage off of the head of an injured woman, then pulled her up to a waiting ambulance using a pulley system.
The rescue started when a woman flagged down a passing vehicle on Highway 206, about 12 miles east of Wasco, Oregon.
The woman, Jeanne Moles, 26, of John Day, told the motorists that her car was down the embankment, and that two people were injured.
One of the people in the passing car climbed up a hill until she could get a signal on her cellphone and call 911 to report the crash.
"They may very well have saved the injured lady's life," said Trooper Mike Holloran said.
Over the course of the next hour, emergency responders - many of them volunteers - arrived on scene.
The crews went to work setting up a rappelling system to reach the victims by rope. Once down the cliff to the scene of the crash, crews managed to get the 2000 Oldsmobile up off the head of 21-year-old Desiree Rutherford, 21, of Portland and pull her up by ropes to a waiting ambulance. Police said Rutherford was ejected from the car and pinned under the wreckage.
She was first taken to Mid Columbia Medical Center, then flown by air ambulance to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend with serious injuries, police said.
A second passenger, Jay Williams, 22, of Long Creek suffered minor injuries when he was thrown from the car near the top of the embankment. The driver, Moles, and another passenger, 24-year-old Matthew Sagaser of John Day, were not injured.
Emergency crews responded from multiple agencies, including South Sherman Fire Rescue, North Sherman Fire Rescue, Sherman County Rescue, Moro Rural Fire Rescue, Rufus Fire Rescue, Condon Ambulance, Sherman County Ambulance, Sherman County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police.
It was my daughter that was ejected and pinned by the car. She is surviving and it is possible she could be so lucky to have a complete recovery one day. I am pretty sure she will wear a seat belt if she is able to ride in a car ever again. Her first surgery was to repair her open ankle fracture, open pelvic fracture and head wound. She is breathing on her own and has the breathing tube removed. She will be having a surgery on her shoulder tomorrow. Please pray for her. She has so much pain in her future. If anyone knows of any agencies that can help with her recovery expenses please pass that info along. It is not what you want to happen to anyone. Most especially your child. :(
Ouch! And an Oldsmobile to boot. Lucky ducky.
It landed on her head and she still lives??? omg...guardian angel there. We don't know what her life expectancy is...but just the fact that she's still alive! Wow....
I'm wondering, were seat belts in use?
Their lucky. This is a little used and dangerous road especially in the winter. If there was ice and fog you have to be extremely careful. It used to give me nightmares when I was a kid having to travel it. Back then there were no fog lines.
she was not using her head when she did not buckle up.
 @Leinenkugle's And you know this how, Kemosabe??
Police said Rutherford was ejected from the car and pinned under the wreckage.
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Pretty obvious to me she didn't.
I thought that headline was a typo....OMG!
 @B Smizzle ~ Don't feel bad... I did, too, the first time I read through it..!   Hard to believe that anyone survived this..!  Â
So how did the person get outside the vehicle to get her head pinned? No seatbelt maybe?
This comment has been deleted
 @Mike SmithÂ
Insults? Somehow I expect that of you Mike. You never fail to set a low standard.
 @Kachina   Â
And now he is doing a post and run.
@RalphCramden @Mike Smith Apparently you've been slimed by Fishbait.
 @Common SenceÂ
Strong B pillars. Most new cars have a nice safety cell. If you stay inside there is a very good chance that you will walk away. The front and rear are sacrificial.
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Also, as spectacular as that ride down that hill looks. They didn't really hit anything. As the old joke goes it's not falling off a 10 story building that will kill you. It's the sudden stop. We can survive 40g if properly restrained. At speed we need ride down space. That works out to ~4' at 70mph.
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g=[0.0334*(mph)^2]/feet
Yep, I'm a gear head...
how did anybody survive this????
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Dang...that's one hard-headed lady! Hope everyone recovers fully from this!!
OMG... scary, for sure... I felt dizzy just looking at that first picture..! Â Â
Best wishes and hopes for all the victims for their full recoveries..! Â Â
Wow, I looked at that picture and thought "that looks just like the road to Condon". Â Then I read that it is. Â That section of road always freaks me out when there is any chance of ice. Â Hope they all make a speedy recovery.
Folks it's simple, if you're not wearing a seatbelt and your car rolls, it will likely roll onto you after you are ejected through the broken windows. I've witnessed this on I5 before, and its a very sad outcome to what could have been a walk away crash!
"Â 21-year-old Desiree Rutherford, 21, of Portland "
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It looks like the Redundancy Department of Redundancy missed this.
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Get well soon Desiree. Â I hope your serious injuries aren't the type that affect your quality of life.
That's a nasty place to fall off the road - very steep and rocky. Hope she comes through alright...
I wonder if Cat Stevens is still looking for a hard-headed woman. Seriously, best wishes to the victims.
I bet if she didn't believe in wearing a seat belt then, i bet she does now. my Toyota has some weird emergency "pull this lever in case of accident" that came with the car...Actually it says" in case of emergency pull lever."
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No clue as to what that does, been to chicken to pull it..lol.
That's gotta hurt! Seriously - Another accident where speed was too fast for conditions of the road. (Unknown about the seatbelts at this time.)
The first responder said "hey lady, did you know you have an Oldsmobile on your head"?
 @swimbad "No I just like to lie on the ground with cars on top of my head for entertainment......"  - "Here's your sign"
 @swimbad lol!
I have to agree with jpk; The passenger compartment looked relatively intact. With properly worn seat belts none should have been ejected.  Contusions and abrasions, but nothing bad.
I remember the days before crumple zones and collapsable steering columns.  These peops are indeed fortunate.  Story after story about things just like this happening. Sometimes its hard not to become desensitized, tho I believe most of us are to varying drgrees.  Definately a good samaritan to come along and climb a hill to dial out and if I were in the same boat, er, car, I'd hope someone of equal mindedness happened upon me.
something isn't right. i'm suspicious. did the car explode at the bottom like in every hollywood movie ever made?
 @Phuzz  They're supposed to explode in mid-air, silly..
 @StealthActivist  @Phuzz Only after a slo-mo sequence. Unless they're being chased by the A-Team, then the vehicle flips sideways, explodes in slow motion and all the bad guys are blown clear but rendered dazed and demoralized.
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Best wishes (of course) and speedy recoveries to the victims.
Sounds like some pretty lucky people. Seat belts really do help safe lives.
I don't think this victim was wearing a seatbelt as she was ejected! But maybe you were just reminding people to wear them?
Yeah I don't think they were wearing them either. and it should have been save.