KEY POINTS:
A woman whose BMW car plunged off the steep Rimutaka Hill road last night was found in a disoriented state after she had called emergency services on her cellphone early this afternoon.
Firefighters hauled her on a stretcher up a 60m bank and she was taken by ambulance to Wairarapa Hospital.
She had called emergency services around 1.20pm saying she had gone off the road between the summit and Featherston, and was found about half an hour later about 4km from the bottom of the hill.
Wellington police spokeswoman Toni Barlow said the 36-year-old Masterton woman, using her cellphone, helped direct emergency services to her as she heard sirens go past her on the road above.
Featherston chief fire officer Colin McKenna said his crew drove right up to the summit from Featherston looking for broken fencing, without seeing the woman's car.
"Then we noticed the car out in the bush, so it was very lucky we found her," he told NZPA.
The car had gone off the road in a gap between fencing, near a corner.
"She was in a bit of a disoriented state. She had been there, we understand, from about 9 o'clock last night," Mr McKenna said.
"She had got out of the car at some stage during the night looking for her cellphone and couldn't find it. Obviously she found it during the day today and called us."
When the firefighters found the woman, she was inside the car with all the windows wound up and "it was quite hot in the car".
Mr McKenna said the woman did not say much.
"I think she was happy to see us, obviously."
Once the woman had a cervical collar and helmet fitted at the crash scene, she was hauled up to the road on a stretcher by firefighters using ropes and pulleys.
Wairarapa District Health Board Ambulance Service manager Steve Crew said although the women's injuries were initially thought to be serious, on further assessment in the ambulance her injuries had been downgraded to "moderate".
She had a lower leg injury and minor bruising and cuts.
Her car was still in the bush this afternoon, while police investigated the scene.
- NZPA
