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Deputy saves trapped woman
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| James Reed looks down a ravine off Highway 28 where he found a woman trapped in her car early Dec. 28. Margaret E. Dowdle was rescued after spending more than five hours in her car. |
By Blake Spurney Editor
A 66-year-old Clayton woman was rescued early Dec. 28 after she spent more than five hours in a ravine about 1 1/2 miles north of Glade Road on Highway 28.
Margaret E. Dowdle has no doubt that Rabun County Sheriff's Deputy James Reed saved her life by finding her about 1 a.m. an estimated 40 feet down an embankment.
"I've very grateful to be alive," she said. "I really don't how he found me except by looking over, and just by sheer faith, I guess, that they found me. ... I'm just thankful to God that I'm here."
Dowdle had spent the day visiting her sister at Mountain View Community Living Center. She left for home about 7 p.m. She said she felt tired and must have dozed off for a moment, causing her to drive off the road.
Her brother notified authorities that she had gone missing. He knew something was wrong because she always calls if she is going to be late.
"So, the lesson is if you're tired, don't go anywhere," she said.
Dowdle's Toyota Celica ended up hitting a tree, coming to rest in such a position that she couldn't open the door and get out. If she had tried, she likely would have fallen another 200 feet into the ravine.
Therefore, she put on her flashing lights and occasional honked her horn. The battery eventually went dead. Reed said he had been looking for about 45 minutes before he spotted her vehicle. He started from Glade Road and worked his way south while Clayton police Sgt. Scott Crane started searching the roadsides beginning in town at Warwoman Road. A cousin also went out in search of her.
Reed said he shone his flashlight on his patrol car's window while driving along the shoulder. When the topography made it to where he couldn't see what was below him, he would get out of his car and walk along the road with his flashlight.
After Reed found Dowdle, Satolah firefighters scaled down the ravine and loaded her into a Stokes basket, which was then hauled up to the road and a waiting ambulance.
"They did a wonderful job of getting me out," she said. "It was very, very difficult. ... How they got me on that backboard in the tiny little car down there is beyond me."
Dowdle is a diabetic who suffers from a degenerative bone disease. Her being here is "definitely a miracle," she said.
"She would have frozen to death right there last night if James hadn't found her," Crane said.
Dowdle said she wrapped herself in a towel to fight the cold. She wondered at times if she was ever going to be found. "I was in there a long time."
Margaret E. Dowdle has no doubt that Rabun County Sheriff's Deputy James Reed saved her life by finding her about 1 a.m. an estimated 40 feet down an embankment.
"I've very grateful to be alive," she said. "I really don't how he found me except by looking over, and just by sheer faith, I guess, that they found me. ... I'm just thankful to God that I'm here."
Dowdle had spent the day visiting her sister at Mountain View Community Living Center. She left for home about 7 p.m. She said she felt tired and must have dozed off for a moment, causing her to drive off the road.
Her brother notified authorities that she had gone missing. He knew something was wrong because she always calls if she is going to be late.
"So, the lesson is if you're tired, don't go anywhere," she said.
Dowdle's Toyota Celica ended up hitting a tree, coming to rest in such a position that she couldn't open the door and get out. If she had tried, she likely would have fallen another 200 feet into the ravine.
Therefore, she put on her flashing lights and occasional honked her horn. The battery eventually went dead. Reed said he had been looking for about 45 minutes before he spotted her vehicle. He started from Glade Road and worked his way south while Clayton police Sgt. Scott Crane started searching the roadsides beginning in town at Warwoman Road. A cousin also went out in search of her.
Reed said he shone his flashlight on his patrol car's window while driving along the shoulder. When the topography made it to where he couldn't see what was below him, he would get out of his car and walk along the road with his flashlight.
After Reed found Dowdle, Satolah firefighters scaled down the ravine and loaded her into a Stokes basket, which was then hauled up to the road and a waiting ambulance.
"They did a wonderful job of getting me out," she said. "It was very, very difficult. ... How they got me on that backboard in the tiny little car down there is beyond me."
Dowdle is a diabetic who suffers from a degenerative bone disease. Her being here is "definitely a miracle," she said.
"She would have frozen to death right there last night if James hadn't found her," Crane said.
Dowdle said she wrapped herself in a towel to fight the cold. She wondered at times if she was ever going to be found. "I was in there a long time."
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