Driver cheats death after rental car tumbles off Hawaiian cliff
In a staggering tale of survival, a Canadian tourist narrowly escaped death after his early morning drive to catch a Hawaiian sunrise ended in a harrowing plunge off a 60-foot cliff. The 27-year-old adventurer was navigating the treacherous backroads of South Point cliff in Hawaii around 3:30 am on Sunday (25 February) when his rented Jeep veered off the edge.
The vehicle somersaulted and came to rest upside down on the jagged rocks below. Miraculously, the driver emerged from the wreckage alive. Island News reports that the tourist was traversing restricted backroads just moments before the catastrophic descent.
After the staggering drop, the Jeep was ensnared upside down on the rocks. In an astonishing twist of fate, the tourist managed to extricate himself from the mangled vehicle. However, his ordeal was far from over as he tumbled into the ocean below.
Fortuitously, the dramatic incident was witnessed by local spear-fishermen who had risen early for their day’s work, having camped on the beach overnight. One of the fishermen, Mike Moody, recounted to Island News how a fellow fisherman alerted him to the car’s descent just beside him.
Moody detailed the harrowing moment: “The driver’s side was blocked by a rock, preventing escape. The car, upside down, left him hanging over the water on the passenger side. Unaware of the water beneath, he opened the door and fell straight into the sea.”
The quick-thinking fishermen immediately contacted emergency services, who swiftly responded to the scene. Hawaii Island Fire Chief Kazuo Todd told KHON2, “He was floating on his back 80 feet from shore. We guided him, and he swam to safety.”
Moody estimated that the driver spent about an hour in the water before firefighters pulled him to shore with a rope. The tourist was transported to a local hospital, suffering from mild hypothermia, minor facial injuries, and a few scratches.
The fisherman firmly believes that the driver’s survival was nothing short of miraculous, stating that he “would have died 100 per cent” if not for the fishermen’s timely intervention
