Junk food saves snowbound American

The injured man covered himself in car lining

A man is recovering in hospital in the southern United States after being trapped in his car for nearly a week in freezing temperatures following a crash.

Robert Ward's vehicle plunged into a ravine near Dunlow, West Virginia - about three kilometres (two miles) from the nearest house.

He asked us to pinch him so he knew he wasn't dreaming

Terry Likens
rescuer

He hunkered down and waited to be rescued after breaking his hip and being unable to get out of the vehicle, which had its headlights and horn put of action by the crash.

He later told a friend that he had just about given up hope when he was finally discovered.

Mr Ward, 32, survived the cold by covering himself with lining he ripped out of the car and by burning paper.

He fed himself on an old jar of peanut butter and packets of fast food sauce lying in the vehicle and for water, he melted snow.

He was found by one of his own friends, Terry Likens, and another man, and taken to hospital in Huntington where he is suffering from frostbite in both feet.

"I don't think he would have made it through the night," Mr Likens, the captain of the fire department where Mr Ward works as a volunteer, told The Associated Press.

"He told us when we found him, he said he was getting ready to go to sleep for the last time. He had just about given up."

Saved by sauce

In the crash on 2 December, Mr Ward's car plunged 45 metres (150 feet) and struck a tree.

Mr Ward works as a rescuer himself

A few days later, the first heavy snowfall of the winter hit the area and the temperature remained below zero for several days.

As Mr Ward was ripping the lining from the car's roof to use as a blanket, searchers including fire-fighters, police officers, miners and forest rangers combed the area, helped by a helicopter lent by a local coal company.

The trapped man finally heard the voices of his friend and a companion on Sunday and yelled for assistance.

"He asked us to pinch him so he knew he wasn't dreaming," Mr Likens said.

Commenting on his friend's improvised rations, the fire captain said:

"It's a bachelor vehicle. It catches a little bit of everything."