Rider rescued after two days in ditch

An Irish dressage rider, who survived a car crash has been rescued after spending 40 hours trapped in a rain-filled ditch

Lisa Landau, 39, who has ridden at national level in Ireland, is recovering in hospital after spending nearly 40 hours trapped upside down in her car after an accident in poor weather.

The accident happened on Saturday evening at around 7.30pm when Lisa left her yard in Ashford, Co Wicklow,to return back to her home in Moneystown.

Lisa was driving her Volvo saloon in torrential rain down a narrow country lane, when she was forced to swerve to avoid an oncoming car. Her car left the road and overturned ending up upside down in a water-filled ditch.

According to news reports, Lisa managed to wedge her head between the pedals and breathe using a 5ins pocket of air in the footwell. She was unable to open the car door or use her mobile phone, which had short-circuited, and spent the next 40 hours drifting in and out of consciousness.

The car was almost completely submerged in the ditch and was found by Chaim Factor, a local man on Monday morning. He noticed broken trees and tyre marks on the road and decided to investigate.

Chaim Factor told The Daily Telegraph that he recognised the car as Lisa’s: “I opened the door and one of her legs fell out – I was afraid of what I would find if I did look. I thought she was dead but noticed a small movement in her leg.”

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph from her hospital bed Lisa said she didn’t remember much about her ordeal. “I woke up and was up to my neck in water and I kept passing out. All I can really remember is waking up in an ambulance.”

Lisa, who moved to Ireland from the West Midlands 11 years ago, is recovering well in hospital after suffering from hypothermia and mild pneumonia.

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