Man recounts finding woman trapped for 2 days in wrecked SUV

KENLY, N.C. (WTVD) -- A driver was rescued days after running off the road in Johnston County.

The man who came to her aid is being hailed as a hero. He talked to ABC11 about how he found the woman trapped in a wrecked SUV -- but still alive.

"Words can't describe what was going through my mind and body at the time," Paul Edwards said.

Her white SUV was on its side hidden deep in a field of trees.

Edwards said he saw something shimmer as he drove by.

"It didn't look right. It didn't feel right," Edwards said.

When he went back, that's when he found the wrecked SUV and the woman inside badly in need of help.

On Monday evening, Edwards walked back down a slope and through the woods, showing where he found the wreckage.

SEE ALSO: 2 killed in head-on crash resulting from high-speed chase in Johnston County

"She wasn't up here by the road, either," Edwards recalled. "She was way down in there."

On Monday afternoon, Chopper 11 flew over Flower Hill Road in Kenly where first responders eventually got to the woman.

"She's moaning and groaning," Edwards told the dispatcher on a 911 call. "She ain't in no shape. She can't move; she's just here shaking, ma'am."

He later recounted the moments he found the vehicle.

"We hollered, 'is there anyone in there?' She said 'I'm over here, I've been here for two days. My back's broke.' It was, it was horrible. It was horrible.

"She was starting to get frantic, you know, 'get me out of here,'" he added. "I just knelt down beside her and just tried to keep her calm. I knew she was in too bad a shape for me to help her."

Edwards noted the damage and debris left behind.

"I seen debris from the car -- there's the mirror," he said.

Edwards saw something else - something that rattled him.

"I seen kids' toys, I seen a baby stroller," he said.

Fortunately, there were no children in the vehicle.

Edwards is grateful he was able to help.

"Everybody was saying God was helping me to help her," he said.

Edwards said an ambulance took the woman to the hospital. He said he plans to meet with her once she is better.

Authorities have not yet released her name or condition.