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Crash Survivor Hopes To Help Woman Who Lived Through Similar Situation

DENVER (CBS4)- A woman who survived days after being trapped in the wreckage of her vehicle after a crash is hoping to help a survivor with a similar story.

Cynthia Blair-Hoover crashed her car after driving off the Central City Parkway when she swerved to avoid a deer. She was trapped in her car for five days before she escaped to safety.

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The Kristin Hopkins crash on the left and the Cynthia Blair-Hoover crash on the right (credit: CBS)

When she heard of Kristin Hopkins story, where the Highlands Ranch woman was found alive after six days of being trapped in her car's wreckage, Blair-Hoover was stunned.

"I started crying because I knew what the family had been through and what they were about to go through and what she had been through," said Blair-Hoover.

Hopkins wrote pleas for help on a red-and-white umbrella that she managed to push through a broken window of her crashed car and open, hoping to attract the attention of drivers on a scenic highway above.

Kristin Hopkins Umbrella
Messages Kristin Hopkins scriblled on the umbrella (credit: Brian Willie/Park County Sheriff's Office)

Still, it was five days before anyone spotted the flipped car 80 feet down an embankment on U.S. Highway 285 in a Colorado aspen grove.

Hopkins had to have both of her feet amputated as a result of her serious injuries.

Kristin Hopkins
Kristin Hopkins (credit: CBS)

Hearing about that crash brought back memories for Blair-Hoover, "It took five days before they found me and a lot of the survival was the fact that it rained a lot."

Water collected in her airbag which she then drank. She used a golf club to protect herself from animals at night.

"It was just going through my head, 'I have to fight. I am going to survive. I am going to live,'" said Blair-Hoover.

She finally slid down the mountain to an old gold mine where people came to her aid. She suffered a broken neck, broken back, broken ribs and damaged kidneys.

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Cynthia Blair-Hoover was treated after she spent days in the wreckage of her car (credit: CBS)

RELATED: Highlands Ranch Woman Found Alive In Crashed Car

If Hopkins is willing to talk to Blair-Hoover, she would be happy to share her story and offer her support.

"Not too many people live through that... She and I are the lucky ones," said Blair-Hoover. "I cherish every single day."

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