An Oakfield resident spent a couple of cold hours in his crashed car in a field off Maple Road in Alabama early Saturday morning when a friend who went looking for him couldn't find him.
It's unclear at what point he called 9-1-1, but at that point, emergency dispatchers were able to locate him based on his mobile phone signal.
The driver's friend and State Police were already on scene when Alabama fire and Mercy EMS arrived, said Chief Gary Patnode.
The driver is identified by State Police as Jerald E. Bliemeister, 46. He was driving a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser when he suffered a medical emergency. The accident was reported at 12:20 a.m.
His car was westbound on Townline Road and he drove through the T-intersection at Maple Road and came to rest about 300 feet in a farm field. State Police said the vehicle struck a mailbox, fence and snow fence.
The car apparently became airborne at some point, Patnode said.
The ground was frozen, which made rescue operations a little easier, Patnode said.
"It was frozen enough to support a pickup, so I drove my pickup out there with a Stokes basket, so we were able to get him out," Patnode said. "We thought about calling in East Pembroke's new gator, but the medics were eager to get him out because he had been out there so long. He might have suffered a little exposure."
Bliemeister apparently suffered broken ankles but was otherwise believed to be OK.
