Elderly man, 86, rescued from wreckage more than 24 hours after car crash

A Razorback resident has become an instant hero after he saved an elderly man who had been trapped in his car after veering off a steep embankment 24 hours earlier.

An elderly man who was trapped in his car for more than 24 hours after slipping down a seven-metre embankment was only discovered after a local resident spotted the back of a car in the shrub surrounding his property.

Terry Cribbin was at his Razorback property with his wife Pauline on Thursday afternoon, when their friend arrived and spotted a blue car that had slipped down a steep drop off the driveway.

Mr Cribbin thought the car had been stolen and dumped in the thick shrub of his property, but his wife Pauline urged him to check it out.

Sliding down the seven-metre drop in his overalls, Mr Cribbin said his heart almost stopped beating when he saw an elderly man laying across the front seats.

“I thought he was dead,” Mr Cribbin said.

Rescuers at the site of the crash at the Old Razorback Road property.

“His head was under the dash on the passenger side with his legs over the console – he was stuck.

“I said ‘are you all right’ and his eyes popped open and I thought ‘oh my god’.”

Mrs Cribbin quickly called emergency services while Mr Cribbin kept the man – 86-year-old Roy Ridding- company.

“He was chatting away telling me that he gives blood and never gets sick,” Mr Cribbin said.

“I let him know people were coming to help and he thought that was great.”

Around 10 minutes later, Mr Cribbin said his Old Razorback Road property resembled a film set.

“There were police, ambulances, firefighters two helicopters,” he said.

The mission to rescue Mr Ridding took several hours, with specialist emergency services called in to safely extract him from the car.

Terry Cribbin at the site of the crash where he found an 86-year-old man. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“Firefighters used cables and winches to prevent the car crashing further down the slope,” A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesman said.

“They then cut away the side panels so the man could be reached and treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics.”

While he was disorientated and dehydrated, Mr Ridding was otherwise unharmed. He was taken to Campbelltown Hospital for observation, where he is expected to remain for a couple of days.

Emergency services believe Mr Ridding may have been stuck in the car for more than 24 hours. He was without a phone and unable to alert anyone to his situation.

Old Razorback Road has been closed to everyone but residents for some time due to a landslide that collected part of the road.

Mr Cribbin said Roy thought his driveway was a road, and that he tried to turn around slipped down an embankment.

The man was trapped in a car hanging off a small cliff for more than 24 hours. Picture: NSW Ambulance

Several emergency service crews worked to release the 86-year-old. Picture: NSW Ambulance

“He’d come from Warwick Farm and was trying to get his GP,” Mr Cribbin said.

“He got lost and he’s somehow ended up here.”

Mr Cribbin laughed at locals’ claims he was a hero, saying he was just pleased that Roy was okay.

“It’s very lucky,” he said.

“I’m just glad we were able to help him – it was my wife who deserves the credit though. She got me to go down and take a look.”