Published Thursday, March 6, 2003
30 hours
CNHI News Service
William McConahy of Slippery Rock Township never misses work, so when he didn't show up Tuesday, his boss contacted McConahy's family.
But his wife, Amy, his parents and his sister were already worried. They hadn't heard from him since he left for work at Nautical Design in Portersville Monday morning.
At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, the 32-year-old showed up at Pat Hensel's door. As soon as she saw him, she knew something was wrong. McConahy's 1988 Ford Bronco had plunged over a hillside on U.S. Route 422 at about 4:30 Monday afternoon and he lay trapped for about 30 hours before he was able to free himself and make his way to Hensel's home.
Wednesday morning, McConahy, who was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, blamed a combination of gravel and icy grass for the accident. McConahy said he was heading toward New Castle on Route 422 when his SUV went off the road, into some gravel and slid on icy grass. He said it hit three or four trees before the SUV went down a 40-foot embankment, landing on its roof.
The impact broke the windshield, he said, and he was pinned. He thinks he was knocked out, because when he woke up, it was dark. He said he began yelling for help, but no one came.
On the berm of the road where McConahy's vehicle went over, the gravel is 1 to 2 inches thick and skid marks where the SUV swerved can be seen.
His father, Al, went to the accident site near the Campers Paradise Camping RV Park and just past the Water Wars miniature golf course with other family members Wednesday morning. He said he thinks a tire got caught in the gravel and that's what pulled the SUV over the embankment.
When McConahy regained consciousness, his mother Charlotte said, his first thought was that he was hungry. He told them he ate a lot of snow. His parents said he had gone through the windshield and his head was trapped under the motor. He used his hands to dig a space, they said, then pulled himself through the windshield.
They were shocked, they said, that as he walked along the highway -- bloody and dirty and waving his arms -- about 10 cars passed, but no one stopped to help him.
So he helped himself. It was about 9:50 p.m. Tuesday, Hensel said, and she had just fallen asleep when McConahy knocked on her door. He told her he had been in a wreck and asked her to call 911. He was pretty beaten up, she said, and his hands and face were cut and bleeding.
Although her house is "a community stop" and anyone who breaks down or needs something will knock on her door, the 64-year-old Hensel was a little wary and asked McConahy to wait outside.
She called the state police and then her neighbor, Dennis McCurdy. McCurdy arrived and she brought the two men inside. They put McConahy, who was shivering, in a living room chair, wrapped a blanket around him and sat with him. Within minutes, a rescue team arrived.
"When he told me how long he had been out there, I couldn't believe he didn't freeze to death," Hensel said Wednesday morning from her home, where McConahy's hand prints are still on her door. The temperature in Lawrence County dipped to 16 degrees overnight Monday, according to the Web site Weather Underground.
McConahy was well-composed, considering what he had been through, she added. His mother, an Ellwood City resident, was more adamant. "It's a miracle he's alive," she said. "We are so, so lucky."
According to McConahy, he has no broken bones, just a bruised pelvis, frostbite on his toes and plenty of cuts and bruises. "I feel pretty good," he said.
A spokesman at Presbyterian Hospital said McConahy was to be released late Wednesday.
The New Castle News