Roll bar and cell phone survival factors
From edhat Santa Barbara:
Dos Pueblos Student's Experience Provides Powerful Message to Teens About Safe Driving
The 1995 Mustang convertible driven by Dos Pueblos senior Thomas Dwelley is but a crumpled shell of its former self. Hard to believe that Thomas was in the car, and survived, when the vehicle careened off Gibraltar Road and landed some 200 feet below.
When Thomas, now back in school, removes his cap, the thin, vertical scar on the side of his head is a reminder of the brain surgery he underwent following his 18-hour ordeal, alone and injured in terrain below Gibraltar Road.
Were it not for the roll bar his father had installed in the Mustang, the outcome of the accident could have been very different.
Thomas credits his father for finding him by tracing his location, with the help of AT&T, via the cell phone he had been carrying.
Noozhawk writer Giana Magnoli provides the Dad's perspective:
Dad Speaks Out About Finding His Son at Crash Site Off Gibraltar Road
Dave Dwelley saw the skid mark on Gibraltar Road above Santa Barbara, parked his car and rushed to the side to look over. There, about 200 feet down and almost completely hidden by brush, was a mangled ball of blue metal that he knew was his son’s 1995 Ford Mustang convertible.
Dwelley scrambled down the mountain until he reached the car, which was right-side-up though it had clearly rolled for a long way off the road.
The car had a roll bar in it, which was about the only thing still intact, Dwelley said.
Inside, he found his son Thomas’ iPhone — which is how he had tracked the location — but no Thomas.
He shouted Thomas’ name and heard an answer come from about 100 feet away. Thomas was sitting on a rock — sunburned, dehydrated and disoriented, but coherent, Dwelley said.
Multiple agency rescue required:
Published on Nov 4, 2012 by rootof22by7
Rescue on Gibraltar Road, Santa Barbara, November 3rd, 2012. [ps: the rescuee was alive and okay]
(clip 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I982g4LuUk0)
Mike "FossilMedic" Ward
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