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American Morning

Girl, 3, Survived Five Days Trapped in Car Wreck

Aired January 28, 2004 - 08:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another story to tell you about this morning, an amazing story really of tragedy and survival in Arizona. After a car crash last week that killed her mother, 3-year- old Angel Emery spent five days trapped in the wreckage. She ate crackers and huddled with her mother's body to stay warm during the freezing nights.
On Monday, searchers finally located the car and rescued her. One trauma doctor calls her the "miracle child."

Just a little bit earlier today, I spoke with Frank Valenzuela of the Arizona Department of Public Safety to get the very latest on little Angel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK VALENZUELA, SPOKESMAN, ARIZONA DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: She's doing very well today. Actually yesterday, the doctors reported that the frostbite that we thought was going to be a severe condition is actually she's getting color back to her skin, it's turning pink, and they don't believe that there is going to be any permanent damage from the frostbite.

She did suffer a blow to the back of her head, but after the five days that she was out there, of course, that was the critical time that we needed to know whether she would suffer any damage from that. And obviously, she did not. She's doing very well and in really good spirits today.

O'BRIEN: Really? I was going to ask about that emotionally, of course, because one cannot even begin to imagine the trauma of what this little girl has witnessed. Does she seem to be holding up emotionally, too?

VALENZUELA: Emotionally, she seems to be doing well. But on the other hand, she hasn't asked about her mother that we know of. Probably really hadn't had an opportunity to reflect and realize what she's been through these last five days and four nights. So, other than that, she's acting just like a normal little 3-year-old girl would, and she seems to be OK, but we'll know in the long term how well she's going to do.

O'BRIEN: She survived five days in a small car that had rolled down an embankment, and I guess the force of that rolling and also by hitting the various trees, most of the windows were blown out. Give me a sense, first, of the conditions over those five days. They were very harsh. And also what it looked like when the rescuers found the little girl.

VALENZUELA: Absolutely. First of all, we had a winter storm come through the state during that period of time. That particular area experienced rain. There was some snowfall in the area as well. And we were looking at temperatures probably in the low 20s at night, maybe at the highest during the day probably in the high 30s. So, the environment was very hostile, very cold, and she was completely exposed to these elements.

The passenger compartment had been breached. The windows had been broken out, and really the only difference between being in the car and outside was that she had a little bit of protection maybe from some animals, wild animals that would have been in the area. But basically, it was like sitting under a tree, very cold, and, of course, I'm sure she was very scared all at the same time.

O'BRIEN: Yes, obviously. Her mother, as you noted, did not survive the crash. Is there a sense that her mother may have survived a few days into the crash, which would have at least allowed her to provide some warmth for the little girl? I read reports that the mother was covered a little bit in a blanket lying across the passenger seat.

VALENZUELA: That's correct. We don't know for sure, but it's very possible that the mother did survive. She probably wasn't capable of doing a whole lot. She was covered with a blanket. We don't know if she covered herself and her child with a blanket, or if the child just covered her mother with a blanket. It's really difficult to say at this point. We'll have to wait for the autopsy to be completed.

But we do know one thing that the child was huddled next to her mother in the front seat. The mother was covered with a blanket, and it gives us an indication that the mother may have lived for a short period of time. We don't know if it would have been hours or maybe a couple of days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Officer Frank Valenzuela from Arizona joining us this morning. Angel, as he mentioned, is recovering in a Phoenix hospital, and doctors say they don't think she's going to lose any fingers or toes to frostbite, despite the harsh conditions that she endured.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired January 28, 2004 - 08:21   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Another story to tell you about this morning, an amazing story really of tragedy and survival in Arizona. After a car crash last week that killed her mother, 3-year- old Angel Emery spent five days trapped in the wreckage. She ate crackers and huddled with her mother's body to stay warm during the freezing nights.
On Monday, searchers finally located the car and rescued her. One trauma doctor calls her the "miracle child."

Just a little bit earlier today, I spoke with Frank Valenzuela of the Arizona Department of Public Safety to get the very latest on little Angel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK VALENZUELA, SPOKESMAN, ARIZONA DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY: She's doing very well today. Actually yesterday, the doctors reported that the frostbite that we thought was going to be a severe condition is actually she's getting color back to her skin, it's turning pink, and they don't believe that there is going to be any permanent damage from the frostbite.

She did suffer a blow to the back of her head, but after the five days that she was out there, of course, that was the critical time that we needed to know whether she would suffer any damage from that. And obviously, she did not. She's doing very well and in really good spirits today.

O'BRIEN: Really? I was going to ask about that emotionally, of course, because one cannot even begin to imagine the trauma of what this little girl has witnessed. Does she seem to be holding up emotionally, too?

VALENZUELA: Emotionally, she seems to be doing well. But on the other hand, she hasn't asked about her mother that we know of. Probably really hadn't had an opportunity to reflect and realize what she's been through these last five days and four nights. So, other than that, she's acting just like a normal little 3-year-old girl would, and she seems to be OK, but we'll know in the long term how well she's going to do.

O'BRIEN: She survived five days in a small car that had rolled down an embankment, and I guess the force of that rolling and also by hitting the various trees, most of the windows were blown out. Give me a sense, first, of the conditions over those five days. They were very harsh. And also what it looked like when the rescuers found the little girl.

VALENZUELA: Absolutely. First of all, we had a winter storm come through the state during that period of time. That particular area experienced rain. There was some snowfall in the area as well. And we were looking at temperatures probably in the low 20s at night, maybe at the highest during the day probably in the high 30s. So, the environment was very hostile, very cold, and she was completely exposed to these elements.

The passenger compartment had been breached. The windows had been broken out, and really the only difference between being in the car and outside was that she had a little bit of protection maybe from some animals, wild animals that would have been in the area. But basically, it was like sitting under a tree, very cold, and, of course, I'm sure she was very scared all at the same time.

O'BRIEN: Yes, obviously. Her mother, as you noted, did not survive the crash. Is there a sense that her mother may have survived a few days into the crash, which would have at least allowed her to provide some warmth for the little girl? I read reports that the mother was covered a little bit in a blanket lying across the passenger seat.

VALENZUELA: That's correct. We don't know for sure, but it's very possible that the mother did survive. She probably wasn't capable of doing a whole lot. She was covered with a blanket. We don't know if she covered herself and her child with a blanket, or if the child just covered her mother with a blanket. It's really difficult to say at this point. We'll have to wait for the autopsy to be completed.

But we do know one thing that the child was huddled next to her mother in the front seat. The mother was covered with a blanket, and it gives us an indication that the mother may have lived for a short period of time. We don't know if it would have been hours or maybe a couple of days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Officer Frank Valenzuela from Arizona joining us this morning. Angel, as he mentioned, is recovering in a Phoenix hospital, and doctors say they don't think she's going to lose any fingers or toes to frostbite, despite the harsh conditions that she endured.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.