A 67-year-old woman, rescued more than 17 hours after her car left the road and crashed into a creek, is in hospital with suspected broken bones.
The woman was travelling on the Princes Highway near Narooma on the New South Wales South Coast about 11:00pm on Wednesday when she veered off the road and crashed into Kianga Creek.
The impact knocked the woman out and trapped her in the overturned car.
According to emergency services, the woman did not regain consciousness until about 4:30pm on Thursday, when she was able to contact a relative using her mobile phone.
While she was unable to provide a location, the relative called police, who used the woman's GPS location to find her within 20 minutes.
NSW Fire and Rescue workers freed the woman from her car and she was airlifted to Canberra Hospital in a stable condition.
The woman is believed to have a few broken bones, including a broken rib.
She also suffered from exposure to the elements.
'Hundreds of people drove past'
John Lodge from Narooma Fire and Rescue said the car was well hidden in heavy bushland.
"Hundreds and hundreds of people drove past the scene all day but you couldn't see it from the road, so she was extremely lucky to be found," he said.
"When we arrived on scene we couldn't see the car at all.
"Then we saw it down a gully in heavy bushland and it was sitting half in the creek and half in the bush.
"She was really lucky that she could get that phone call out."
Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said NSW Police were still investigating the crash.
But he said, in this instance, the ability for police to locate the woman using her mobile phone location was invaluable.
"We're very pleased that the outcome was a positive one," he said.
"There was a tremendous effort by police and emergency services ... to respond in quick time and convey that lady to hospital, where I hope she's recovering.
"When someone's in need the emergency services community are not backward in coming forward.
"It happens often, this is a really good example of where local resources are used for the betterment of this dear lady."
