Student climbs out of ravine a week after crash

updated 10:32 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2007

WASHINGTON - James McCormick drove by a ravine near his Laurel, Md., home many times in the week since his 18-year-old son disappeared, oblivious to the fact that his son lay trapped in a car wreck below.

On Saturday, Julian McCormick stopped waiting for someone to find him in his upside down Honda Civic. Injured and dehydrated, he somehow managed to climb out of the car and up to the side of the road, where a driver spotted him.

McCormick was able to tell her his name and other facts, but didn’t know how long he had been there, said the driver, Leigh Ann Hess.

“The prayers that everyone sent up — the prayers are truly answered,” James McCormick told The Associated Press after being reunited with his son at the scene.

His son was taken by helicopter to a hospital for evaluation, McCormick said. He said paramedics were worried about internal injuries.

“They said it’s a miracle he’s still alive,” he added.

The family filed a missing person report after the 18-year-old disappeared a week ago. The Bowie State University student left campus the morning of Sept. 1 to pick up his girlfriend in College Park, but he never showed up.

Although it’s not far from the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the area where McCormick apparently crashed is a very rural area with farms and fields, said Sgt. Robert Lachance of the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over the area. The car was found in a creek below a bridge, police said, and the accident was under investigation.

James McCormick said the road goes right by his house, though Julian was taking it to get to Route 1 on his way to College Park. McCormick said he believes his son was stuck in the car the whole week and only climbed out Saturday.

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