Driver trapped for six hours after crash

A Comox driver who went off the road on the Alberni Highway early Friday morning remained trapped in his damaged vehicle for more than six hours.

“He was pretty lucky,” said Oceanside RCMP Cpl. Michael Kane, who responded to the crash near a rest stop at Cameron Lake about 10 that morning. “When he was transported from the scene, he had no specific injuries other than a cut on his head. But it took a while to cut him out.”

The man told first responders he swerved to avoid wildlife and his car went off the road about 4 a.m. The car crossed the road and ended up in the trees, out of sight of passing vehicles.

“He was just off the side of the roadway, far enough that there was no way to see him from the road,” said Kane. “A passenger heading northbound, if they had been paying attention, may have been able to see it. But it was a black car. It was in the shadows.”

It was also dark and raining heavily, said Kane.

For hours, the driver called for help, but there was no one around to hear him. Finally, three drywallers who had pulled into the rest stop to use the bathroom heard him yelling.

“They went and explored and found the vehicle off the side of the road and called 911. So police, fire and ambulance, we were all dispatched to the scene,” said Kane. “When I arrived, the firefighters were trying hard to free him from the car. There were three ambulances and fire trucks. There was a lot of help out there.”

An air ambulance was dispatched from Vancouver. The paramedics were particularly concerned about the possibility of internal bleeding when the driver was freed.

“Once the pressure is released, things can go sideways quick,” said Kane.

The car suffered significant damage. The driver was taken to Nanaimo Regional Hospital for follow-up.

Speed is suspected but at this point, it’s too early to tell, said Kane. Weather was also a factor.

“It’s pretty lucky those people stopped,” he said.