Woman Meets Prince George's Rescuers Following 5-Day Fight For Her Life In Crashed Car

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — For five days, Shadone "Penny" Taylor fought to stay alive in the wreckage of her car. She emerged from the crash with numerous injuries and has since had six surgeries. On Tuesday, she reunited with the emergency workers who saved her life.

In May 2020, Taylor was reported missing when she didn't return from her trip to grab dinner at Checkers. Taylor had swerved to avoid deer on the way there and crashed her vehicle down a hill off Suitland Parkway in Temple Hills only 1.5 miles from her home. She couldn't reach her cell phone and call for help. So she sat there, trapped in her vehicle and waited for help to arrive.

Initially, her family distributed flyers throughout the community hoping someone had seen Taylor. But then scammers contacted the family and claimed to have kidnapped the grandmother and demanded $7,000, according to Fox5DC.

Although family members were frightened, the one bright light in the kidnapping claim is that the FBI became involved and traced her cellphone to the area where her car had crashed. Initially, police told family members Taylor had died, but investigators working the scene heard a faint voice from within the vehicle. She was alive.

Three years to the day, Taylor walked into a room with the assistance of a cane and hugged the emergency workers who saved her life. She is expected to make a full recovery.