GIBSON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A driver who went down a steep embankment in Susquehanna County is thankful that a stranger came and helped him.
State police say the driver took a wrong turn Wednesday then went down a hill and was totally stuck. Emergency officials believe the driver was stranded in the woods for at least half an hour.
"My first thought was somebody put their car in park and it rolled off a cliff here, so I scrambled up and checked and it was an older gentleman in the car."
Rich Morrel recalled what he saw while driving home from his farm in Susquehanna County. A car had crashed into a tree in the woods along the Great Bend Turnpike near Union Dale.
"The car was pointing downhill at about 70 degrees and he was wedged against the tree and the doors were jammed shut and he couldn't get his seatbelt off," Morrel recalled.
Morell called 911 and learned the disoriented man had driven off course and could not get out of his car.
"The scariest part is he was trying to get off the 70-degree hill and all four wheels were up and spinning."
Morell says not too many cars drive along this stretch of road, so him finding the stranded driver was just being at the right place at the right time.
"The road may get five cars a day in traffic, so it was just a one in a million shot that I even saw him driving by here," Morrel said.
Emergency officials took the driver to a nearby hospital. They tell Newswatch 16 he did not suffer any serious injuries.