Woman, 80, rescued two days after B.C. mountainside crash

CALGARY — An Calgary woman, 80, is doing fine in hospital after surviving for two days following a highway crash down a steep B.C. mountainside, police said Thursday.

"She was in amazingly good condition and in good humour," said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

Betty Lyons was driving to Calgary from Christina Lake, B.C., on Monday morning when she lost control of her sedan on a highway near the Bombi Summit, east of Castlegar in southeastern British Columbia.

Investigators said the car plunged about 60 metres into dense trees, unseen by any other motorists.

"The vehicle had been hung up in some trees. She managed to make it down, to the bottom of the embankment, but couldn't make her way back up for help," Moskaluk said.

Lyons' family reported her missing Tuesday, sparking a search by RCMP.

As the case stretched into Wednesday, Lyons' family became even more worried and hired a private helicopter to search the area.

Someone in the chopper spotted Lyons' car from the air around 5 p.m. Calgary time and contacted police.

Search-and-rescue crews carried Lyons up the embankment to a waiting ambulance, which took her to hospital, where she remained Thursday.

Moskaluk said she was suffering only from minor dehydration and some cuts and bruises and was in hospital strictly for observation.