NEW YORK (Associated Press) – A man driving off the road in a snowstorm this week spent 10 hours trapped in his car after a plow passed and snow quickly accumulated, finally managed to get the 911 call and was rescued at the same moment. Time by a New York State Soldier.
State Police said Kevin Crisen, 58, from Kandor, drove off the road in Ojo and became “plowed by a truck.”
“If he had been there for another hour, his body temperature would have gone down, and I am convinced he wouldn’t have succeeded,” state police sergeant. Jason Cooley, who saved the man, said in an interview.
Crisen drove into a ditch around midnight and called 911 during the early hours of Thursday, but had trouble calling. Authorities said the car had completely malfunctioned, leaving Crissen unheated.
“It finally made it through several times and was geolocated, but it wasn’t good because of spots in reception,” said Cowley.
First responders narrowed the call to a 3-mile stretch along the Susquehanna River in Oigo, just outside Binghamton, which fell more than 40 inches of snow in the storm. A storm blanketed Cressen’s car in snow, and at least one plow passed while he remained trapped.
Cole climbed miles of snowy banks and finally happened to one that looked slightly different and was in front of a house. He first thought he was looking at a row of mailboxes.
“I arrived to find the address I was at when I punched the side window of the car,” said Cooley. “I was a little shocked because I was actually standing almost over the car.”
The 22-year-old veteran of the state police removed the glass and asked if anyone was inside.
“I’m in the car,” Cresson told him. “I can’t feel my feet.”
“My heart jumped,” said Cooley. Crisen dug with the help of a passerby.
Collie said that Cressen was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite and reached the point where he stopped shivering.
“This is a very bad place when your body stops generating heat and stops trying to warm itself,” he said.
Chrisen, whose speech was sparkling, was helped in a marked police car and then taken to an ambulance, where he began to warm up.
“He was grateful to have it pulled,” said Cooley, who described the issue as his “first Arctic rescue.”
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