INSIDE EDITION has the harrowing story of a woman who survived five days and nights in the wilderness after her car rolled down a mountainside.
Emotions run high for a woman, who is re-living an unbelievable nightmare. It's her first time back to the scene of a car crash where she spent 5 days and nights fighting for her life.
Cindy Blair-Hoover was driving down a stretch of highway outside Denver, when she swerved to avoid hitting a deer. Her car rolled over and over, down a steep embankment. She ended up upside down on a snowy ledge.
"My neck was broke, my back was broke. Seven ribs on my left side, four ribs on my right side that were broke," said Cindy.
Using golf clubs she had in her car, Cindy dragged herself from the vehicle, which was teetering precariously on the steep slope.
"It was like, if you barely touched the car, it was going to start rolling again," explained Cindy.
She knew help was just up the hill on the highway, but her broken body couldn't get her there.
"I tried crawling. I tried standing on my knees. Nothing worked."
What's more, one of her lungs was punctured, and it was filling up with blood, making it difficult to scream. But she tried anyway.
Cindy exclaimed, "I hollered, 'Please help me! Please help me!' "
As darkness fell, a new terror gripped Cindy. The forest came alive, and the coyotes came out. Again her trusty golf clubs came in handy.
"I had to use the golf clubs to protect myself, because you could hear them. You could hear the coyotes all the time," said Cindy.
The unforgiving rocky mountains had one more misery to dish out. A storm moved in. It rained, snowed, sleet and hail fell on Cindy night after night. She was freezing cold, but that misery, turned out to be a life-saver.
Cindy said, "I was so very, very thirsty. When it would rain or snow, I would try to catch as much as I could."
As days passed, Cindy lost track of time. She lay there, floating in-and-out of consciousness.
Then on the fifth day, she heard voices, using her golf clubs, she dragged herself 450 feet to a nearby gold mine, where the owners were giving a tour.
Jon Northern said, "She was holding a broken golf club across her knees and I tried to gently take it away from her and she just refused to give it up."
Chris said, "She said it was to defend against, bears and wild animals."
They snapped photos as rescue teams airlifted Cindy to safety. We were there when she returned to the mine to thank the men who found her.
The memories of her ordeal come flooding back as Cindy said, "That could have been my final resting place."
To watch more of our interview with Cindy, click here.
