Latest news with #BrieonnaCassell
CBS News
2 days ago
- CBS News
Woman speaks for first time after getting trapped in car for 6 days in Indiana
An Indiana woman spoke for the first time Tuesday after surviving six days in a ditch following a car crash back in March. Brieonna Cassell, Brie for short, was found inside her car in Newton County, Indiana, on Tuesday, March 15 — six days after her family reported her missing. Thirteen surgeries later, Cassell can show you the proof of every rod, plate, and pin put in her legs and arms. "The first like 11, I believe, were every other day once they started," Cassell said. For the last three months, Cassell was at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, recovering after her car crashed into a ditch. "And then my car crunched like an accordion," Cassell said. Cassell said she fell asleep behind the wheel on a rural Newton County road. Her legs were trapped in the car, and so she couldn't move. "I was like, 'Well, go to sleep — hopefully, somebody finds you,'" Cassell said. "Woke up in the morning, and I was still there, and I was all like, 'Now I've got to figure out how to get out of here.'" For six days, Cassell drank water from her cardigan, stayed warm from a mattress topper, and used a flashlight to try to get drivers' attention. Meanwhile, her mom, Kim Brown, reported her missing. "I was just screaming to God, 'Please let my baby come home,'" Brown said. "'I don't care how you bring her home. Just let her come home.'" Brown's prayers were answered when a man named Johnny Martinez — who was driving a 10-foot-tall tractor working for Deyoung Drainage on County Road 600S near County Road 300E near the Newton County Landfill — saw what turned out to be Cassell's car crashed in a ditch by the side of the road. He contacted his supervisor, Morocco Fire Chief Jeremy Vanderwall, who came to Cassell's rescue. "She said: 'I didn't think I was going to make it out of here. I thought I was going to die in this ditch,'" said Vanderwall. "I see the tire come up and stop," said Cassell, "and then I was just so relieved." Cassell said she has not seen Martinez or Vanderwall since that day. She said the day they reunite will be an emotional one. "When they pulled me out of that car, my flesh had been rotting for two days. I had been smelling it," Cassell said. "I didn't think my legs were coming out of the car with me." Cassell is home with her mom now. An ambulance drove her back just this past Saturday morning. A group of volunteers also built a ramp at the front of her home. Cassell said her goal is now to write a book about her experience and focus on physical therapy. "I know I'll be able to walk eventually," she said. "Like, I'm not doubting that." It was also in Northwest Indiana back in December 2023 that Matt Reum went through a very similar experience. Reum survived for six days at in a ravine along Salt Creek in Portage, Indiana, after his pickup truck fell off an overpass on Interstate 94. The pickup truck was smashed and mangled, and he couldn't get out – nor reach his phone to call for help. So he just remained there, surviving on rainwater and using his airbag as a blanket when it got cold out, for six days. On Dec. 26, 2023, two fishermen who had come to scout out a spot along the creek just happened across Reum—and called 911 for first responders to come to his rescue. Reum had to have his leg amputated, but survived, and was expressing his perspective and gratitude a year later.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Yahoo
Doctors fight to save Indiana woman's legs after she was trapped in car for six days
Doctors are fighting to save the legs of a woman who was trapped in her car for six days after crashing into a ditch in Indiana. Brieonna Cassell, 41, was stuck inside her Ford Taurus for six days after her car wrecked into the ditch off a rural road in Newton County, Indiana. After surviving the harrowing ordeal, the mother of three began treatment at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. When she arrived at the hospital, she had compound fractures and infections in both of her legs and a compound fracture in one of her wrists. Cassell underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon. Doctors are waiting to see if her infections are going to heal before they continue with further treatment and surgeries. If the infections in her legs do not heal, then doctors may be forced to amputate them. Police believed she fell asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus and veered off the road while driving near the small town of Brook, approximately 80 miles south of Chicago. Cassell crashed into a 'very big, deep ditch' that couldn't be seen from the road, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told ABC7 Chicago. He added that passersby couldn't hear her cries for help from their cars. 'She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn't see her from the road,' her father said. The crash pinned her legs inside the vehicle and kept her from moving, but Cassell was resourceful and found a way to keep herself alive despite being immobilized. To avoid dying of dehydration, Cassell put her vehicle in neutral, allowing it to slide further into the ditch, where she could then whip her cardigan out of her window to soak in the muddy waters around her car. She then sucked the liquid from her garment. 'She put the car in reverse and let it roll back down the bank to the water, so she could reach out,' Aaron Cassell, her husband, told WGN9. 'She could only reach out with one arm to reach the water and then let it soak up in there and pull up and suck the water out of the hood.' After six days, an equipment operator named Johnny Martinez spotted Cassell's vehicle and reported it to his immediate supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also the volunteer fire chief of the nearby town, Morocco. Martinez and Vanderwall investigated the vehicle and found Cassel conscious. They then called for medical assistance. First responders provided initial treatment at the scene and then handed Cassell off to a life-flight helicopter. Cassell's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the woman cover her medical bills. Lexie Cassell, Brieonna's 23-year-old daughter, said her mother does not have health insurance. The fundraiser has brought in $13,000 of its $25,000 goal.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
Missing Woman Found Alive 6 Days After Being Trapped in Her Car
Originally appeared on E! Online An Indiana woman is alive thanks to her quick thinking. Nearly one week after Brieonna Cassell's car crashed into a ditch in Newton County, Indiana, she stayed alive by dipping her sweatshirt in water for hydration while waiting to be rescued, her family shared. "She would take her hoodie and toss it, like she's fishing," her dad Delmar Caldwell told NBC Chicago in an interview published March 11. "And bring it back and suck on it to have water." Brieonna, who was the sole occupant in the vehicle, was driving one mile from the Newton County landfill March 6 when officials believe she had fallen asleep, the Newton County Sheriff's Office told the station. Her car veered off the road and landed in an embankment. Despite the wreckage not being visible from the road, per authorities, a passerby eventually saw her car while operating a tractor for a drainage company, the sheriff's office shared in a Facebook post. After Johnny Martinez summoned his supervisor Jeremy Vanderwall, they checked inside to see Brieonna conscious and speaking. More from E! Online Ariana Madix Reveals When She Really Walked Away From Vanderpump Rules Kim Kardashian Reveals She Paid for Kris Humphries Engagement Ring—and Had to Give It Back in Divorce Pretty Little Liars' Lucy Hale Is Dating Too Hot to Handle Alum Harry Jowsey As for what she did following the accident? Her husband Aaron Cassell said that Brieonna—who had compound fractures in her arms, legs and wrist—realized the urgency of having a water source. He told WGN News, "She put the car in reverse and let it roll back down the bank to the water so she could reach out" with her sweatshirt. The sheriff's office provided a final update on Brieonna, who was taken to a nearby hospital, with permission from her mom Kim Brown. "Bri is listed in stable condition," the March 12 Facebook post shared. "She is scheduled for surgery today as there is some concern with the healing of her legs. Her outlook for recovery is good but it will be a long road to recovery." The message also expressed Kim's "thanks and appreciation to all responders and all the people that have expressed their thoughts and concerns." As Brieonna continues to heal from her injuries, which also included broken ribs and infections in her legs, her mom couldn't help but praise her daughter's resilience. "She did what she could to survive," she told ABC Chicago. "I am so glad she was found alive, and I just can't wait to hug her and kiss her." (E! News and NBC Chicago are part of the NBCUniversal family.) For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
New York Times
13-03-2025
- New York Times
‘I Thought I Was Going to Die Here': 6 Days Trapped in a Car, Just Out of Sight
Brieonna Cassell woke up in her Ford Taurus on Tuesday morning and began to lose hope that she'd ever get out of the car alive. Nearly a week earlier, she had fallen asleep at the wheel while driving to her mother's house and careened into a ditch. For six days, Ms. Cassell, a 41-year-old mother of three from Sheldon, Ill., had been trapped in the vehicle, battling for her life. The accident shattered her left arm and legs and crushed the dashboard, pinning her lower body in place. Her cellphone flew under the passenger seat, just out of reach, and quickly ran out of battery. 'All she could do was move her arms, and one was broken,' her daughter, Alexis Cassell, said. So there she remained in rural northwest Indiana, mere yards from a bridge that hundreds of cars passed over each day, all of them oblivious to the woman trapped just below them. She did whatever she could, according to interviews with friends, family and those who rescued her: She stabilized her injuries, sent out distress signals and kept her mind active, exhibiting a resourcefulness that surprised even those who knew her best. 'She said she just kept fighting, hoping somebody would find her,' her daughter said. Ms. Cassell crashed around midnight on March 5, and immediately began to scream for help from the darkness of the ditch. The road was mere yards away, but because her car was almost directly under a bridge, it would have been difficult for drivers to hear or see her, according to her family. Her leg was bleeding heavily. In what was most likely the first of many moves that saved her life, she grabbed her belt and fastened a tourniquet, her mother, Kimberly Brown, said. As temperatures dropped below freezing overnight, she covered herself with a comforter that was in the back of her car — a gift she had recently purchased for a friend. Her family realized the next day that she hadn't returned home, and started to worry. When she didn't respond to calls or texts from her children, they began to look for her. The area where she crashed was mostly farmland, but the bridge was fairly busy, and around 400 hundred cars would have passed by Ms. Cassell every day, the Newton County Sheriff's Office told local news outlets. To signal that she was in the car, Ms. Cassell used makeup to scribble the word 'help' on her sun visor and driver's side window. By the weekend, the local sheriff had put out a missing person alert, and her family had contacted an independent rescue team in the area that deployed dogs and drones to assist in the search. The family followed up on tips that took them all over the county. Aaron Cassell, her husband, also combed miles of farmland in the area. On Saturday afternoon, he came agonizingly close, he said. He was searching the Battleday Ditch, the same one Ms. Cassell was in, and came within a mile of her car. She later told him that she could hear his voice calling out her name. As the days passed, Ms. Cassell grew increasingly thirsty, later telling a friend that her tongue felt like 'a lizard' and that her lips were constantly chapped. She knew she could survive for a while without food, but only a few days without water. There was a shallow creek near her car, but even if she opened the door and stretched out her hand, she was about three feet short of the water. So she again got creative: She took her favorite sweater and unfurled it into the water, letting the pink fabric soak up the water before pulling it back and wringing it into her mouth. Her mother later dubbed it her 'fishing pole' for liquid. Days into the ordeal, Ms. Cassell accepted that she might lose her legs, her husband said. But she refused to lose her grip on reality. 'She said she'd empty out her purse and put everything back, then empty out her purse and put everything back in, just to keep her mind going,' Mr. Cassell said. All the while, she wore her voice hoarse as she screamed at passing cars. Jeremy Vanderwall, 44, a heavy machinery operator, was working on a drainage project outside nearby Brook, Ind., when one of his co-workers told him about a car that looked as if it had crashed in a ditch not too far away. Mr. Vanderwall, who is also a volunteer fire chief for Morocco, Ind., thought they should drive over and check it out. When the two got to the bridge, Mr. Vanderwall couldn't see the car and thought his co-worker was mistaken. But as he moved closer to the ditch's edge, it came into view: a black Ford Taurus with its airbags blown out and its rear end sitting in a shallow creek. 'It looked like there was no one in it,' he said. 'Next thing I know, I see a piece of white fabric moving, and I was like, Wait a minute.'' 'Whoa!' he yelled to his co-worker. 'There's somebody in there!' Mr. Vanderwall approached Ms. Cassell, who he said was coherent and able to explain her injuries. Then he noticed dried blood on her forehead. 'How long have you been here?' he asked. 'Wednesday,' she said. 'I said, 'Nah, today is Tuesday, tomorrow is Wednesday,'' he said. 'She looked me straight in the face, said her name and said, 'I've been in this car since Wednesday.'' She added: 'I thought I was going to die here.' Emergency medical workers arrived on the scene, cut Ms. Cassell out of the car and airlifted her to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill. She underwent three hours of surgery on Wednesday, and is now in stable condition, according to her family. She had several broken ribs and compound fractures in her left arm and legs, and it's still too early to know if she will lose her legs, the family said. Family members and friends, many of whom described Ms. Cassell as 'strong willed,' 'hard headed' and a 'fighter,' are hoping that some of the grit that kept her alive during her harrowing week will aid in what will undoubtedly be a long recovery. That determination has already left an impression on her rescuer. 'How do you sit there for six days, and you hear the 'thump thump' of every set of tires going across that bridge, and not give up?' Mr. Vanderwall said. 'Her will to live, man, that's the most impressive.'
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
Doctors fight to save Indiana woman's legs after she was trapped in car for six days
Doctors are fighting to save the legs of a woman who was trapped in her car for six days after crashing into a ditch in Indiana. Brieonna Cassell, 41, was stuck inside her Ford Taurus for six days after her car wrecked into the ditch off a rural road in Newton County, Indiana. After surviving the harrowing ordeal, the mother of three began treatment at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois. When she arrived at the hospital, she had compound fractures and infections in both of her legs and a compound fracture in one of her wrists. Cassell underwent surgery on Wednesday afternoon. Doctors are waiting to see if her infections are going to heal before they continue with further treatment and surgeries. If the infections in her legs do not heal, then doctors may be forced to amputate them. Police believed she fell asleep behind the wheel of her black 2008 Ford Taurus and veered off the road while driving near the small town of Brook, approximately 80 miles south of Chicago. Cassell crashed into a 'very big, deep ditch' that couldn't be seen from the road, her father, Delmar Caldwell, told ABC7 Chicago. He added that passersby couldn't hear her cries for help from their cars. 'She was in excruciating pain. She was screaming out for help. She could hear cars going by, but they couldn't see her from the road,' her father said. The crash pinned her legs inside the vehicle and kept her from moving, but Cassell was resourceful and found a way to keep herself alive despite being immobilized. To avoid dying of dehydration, Cassell put her vehicle in neutral, allowing it to slide further into the ditch, where she could then whip her cardigan out of her window to soak in the muddy waters around her car. She then sucked the liquid from her garment. 'She put the car in reverse and let it roll back down the bank to the water, so she could reach out,' Aaron Cassell, her husband, told WGN9. 'She could only reach out with one arm to reach the water and then let it soak up in there and pull up and suck the water out of the hood.' After six days, an equipment operator named Johnny Martinez spotted Cassell's vehicle and reported it to his immediate supervisor, Jeremy Vanderwell, who is also the volunteer fire chief of the nearby town, Morocco. Martinez and Vanderwall investigated the vehicle and found Cassel conscious. They then called for medical assistance. First responders provided initial treatment at the scene and then handed Cassell off to a life-flight helicopter. Cassell's family has set up a GoFundMe page to help the woman cover her medical bills. Lexie Cassell, Brieonna's 23-year-old daughter, said her mother does not have health insurance. The fundraiser has brought in $13,000 of its $25,000 goal.
