Woman Air Lifted After Crashing Upside Down in Pond

A vehicle rests upside with a tree inside after a singe car crash on Wingfield Church Road. (photo: Derek Conley)

Darren Doyle, story:
A Park City woman sustained multiple injuries after a single car crash in the Wingfield community where she was trapped inside her vehicle upside down in a pond.

According to the Edmonson County Sheriff's Office, emergency responders were called to the 7400 block of Wingfield Church Road around 8:30PM Sunday night, December 22nd for the report of a single vehicle accident with injuries and entrapment.

The Sheriff's Office reported that the driver, Haley Gertiser (27) of Park City, was traveling south on KY HWY 1749 in a 2000 Toyota Rav-4 when her vehicle exited the left side of the roadway for an unknown reason. Law enforcement said it appears she over-corrected and then exited the other side of the roadway, driving across two properties and a fence.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the car went "through a tree," meaning, the vehicle traveled over a small tree that impaled the bottom of the vehicle and exited the top, which left the vehicle described as a "traveling kabob." The vehicle then went airborne and came to rest upside down in the pond with the tree and driver still inside.

"One of the main reasons the driver survived the initial crash is because the tree was completely through the top and bottom of the vehicle, which kept the back end up out of the water enough to allow her to crawl into the rear hatch area and remain partly out of the water until help arrived," said Sgt. Austin Meredith of the Edmonson County Sheriff's Office. "Without that little bit of space, it's likely the entire vehicle would have been underwater with her trapped inside."

She was extricated from the vehicle and frigid water.

In addition to the Sheriff's Office, Edmonson EMS, Wingfield Fire Department, and Edmonson County Jaws were at the scene.

No passengers were reported in the vehicle.

The Sheriff's Office stated the driver remained in the water anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. She was air lifted to the hospital with a visible head injury and possible hypothermia. Other injuries were unknown and her condition is unknown at this time, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The accident is under investigation by the Edmonson County Sheriff's Office.