Rockland Man's Courageous Crawl Up Out Of Hidden Crash: NYSP

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — A Spring Valley man who crawled up a highway embankment before dawn Tuesday alerted emergency responders to a crash they hadn't been able to find and made possible the rescue of another man trapped under an overturned car in a wooded wetland.

Rockland County 911 received a crash notification at 4:35 a.m. in the vicinity of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Exit 9W/Thruway 13N area. New York State troopers responded to the area but were unable to locate anything.

Then at 5:59 a.m. a man crawled onto the shoulder just north of the Exit 9W ramp and flagged down a motorist, who then dialed 911.

State police said it appeared the vehicle had been northbound on the Palisades Parkway when it went off the right shoulder by Exit 9W and traveled down a steep embankment, coming to rest roughly 200 feet into woods, state police said. The car overturned and the driver was ejected and partially trapped underneath it.

"Due to the tough conditions of the wetlands the vehicle was trapped in, it made it difficult for firefighters to access the vehicle for rescue efforts," Chief Joseph Pacella of Nanuet Engine Co. No. 1 wrote on Facebook, describing an extensive effort that necessitated stabilization struts as well as "jaws of life" hydraulic rescue equipment.

The driver was airlifted to Hackensack Hospital in stable condition, Pacella said.

Emergency responders at the scene included Nanuet, Pearl River, Hillcrest and West Nyack fire departments, the Nanuet Community Ambulance Corps, Rockland Paramedic Services and Hackensack Air 1.

Both occupants of the vehicle are from Spring Valley. Drugs and alcohol do not appear to have been a factor in the crash. The investigation is ongoing, state police said.