Woman, 77, Survives 8 Days in Wreck

A 77-year-old woman who survived a car crash and spent eight days trapped in a ravine beside her dead husband before being found was reported in critical but stable condition Wednesday, authorities said.

Helen Heinrich was driving home from breakfast in Santa Cruz with her husband of 55 years when the brakes failed and the car plunged off the highway into a wooded ravine, she told Highway Patrol officers at a hospital.

Rudolph Heinrich, 83, died shortly after the Oct. 2 crash, authorities said.

After surviving without food or water for eight days and lapsing in and out of consciousness, Helen Heinrich was rescued Sunday by three men who said they were looking for crayfish in a nearby creek.

She didn’t remember details of the crash until Tuesday, and then she gave this account, according to Officer William Waterhouse:

The car plunged 120 feet, tumbling and rolling, finally coming to rest on its wheels. Helen Heinrich, who suffered internal injuries, cuts and bruises and a fractured elbow, crawled out of the car.

“She’s a strong woman and she just hung on,” Waterhouse said.