Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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(KSL News)
"In addition to thinking this is it, um....prayed a little."
That woman was driving on I-215 when her car skidded off the road, plunged down an embankment and ended up floating in a freezing canal. As the water started rushing in she prayed somebody would find her. Doctors say what she did next kept her alive.
Aimee Beaudrot woke up-and found herself stuck in a nightmare, with water coming through the floorboards of her car.
Aimee Beaudrot: "I tried to open the back door and the water was so deep it swallowed me up to my hips."
She was stuck, sinking, and had little to hold onto.
Aimee Beaudrot: "I used my jacket as a blanket."
Beaudrot faded in and out of consciousness for most of the night, but she kept moving and doctors say that's what kept her alive. She climbed into the back seat and fought to stay awake.
Aimee Beaudrot: "I thought if I decided, if I went to sleep, I might never wake up."
All night Beaudrot said she was praying for someone, anyone, to help her. When morning came…
Aimee Beaudrot: "There were trucks passing by on the freeway and I would call out hello to them, and they didn't hear me."
Until a man on his way to work saw the car, then saw a thankful woman.
Kevin Becksted, Found car: "All I was really concerned with was getting her warm, not asking her questions. A lot of it I just figured was none of my business."
A modest assessment for what was a dire situation.
Lt. Shawn Judd, Utah Highway Patrol: "It's surprising because it's extremely cold out here and even colder at those hours, so we were very fortunate to find her alive."
Aimee Beaudrot: "I think something that kept me alive, I kept thinking in my mind, ‘okay, the morning's gonna come, I'm gonna go to the hospital, they're gonna get me warm.' And that's kind of what drove my will to live."
Authorities say a medical condition caused Beaudrot to drive off the road. She went to the hospital in serious condition. Doctors say she's lucky to be going home tonight.
