An Alberta senior is in remarkably good spirits despite spending almost two days at the bottom of a 200-foot B.C. embankment after losing control of her car.
Eighty-year-old Betty Lyons was driving back home to Calgary from Christina Lake, B.C., Monday morning when her 2007 Acura veered off Highway 3 just east of Castlegar.
RCMP say her vehicle plunged between 150 and 200 feet down a mountainside and couldn't be seen from the road by anyone driving by.
A search was launched on Tuesday after Lyon's family reported her missing.
The senior's family hired a private helicopter to aid the search Wednesday, and that's when her vehicle was spotted from the air.
"The vehicle had gotten hung up in some trees," Sgt. Laurel Mathew said.
The elderly woman had managed to climb out of her vehicle and make her way to the bottom of the embankment where she lay down until her rescue.
Mathew said the senior was in remarkably good shape when rescuers climbed down to retrieve her.
"Mrs. Lyons suffered lots of bruising and was hungry and dehydrated, but in amazingly good condition and had her sense of humour intact, fearing that someone was going to take a picture of her in such a dishevelled state," he said.
Search and rescue crews helped Lyons back up the embankment. She was transported to the hospital, where she is currently recovering flanked by family members.
Lyon's son, Jay, said she is receiving good care and is expected to recover.
"She is a resilient lady and is in good spirits," he said in a statement issued to media.
"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."
