Apr 10, 2006 10:41 am US/Eastern
Dodds Recalls Crash In Website Message
RYE, NH (CBS4) ―
A candidate for Congress in New Hampshire says he still can't walk after a bizarre accident last week.
In a message posted on his website, 41-year-old Gary Dodds has now given his own account of what happened when he went off the Spaulding Turnpike last Wednesday.
(Read the entire Dodds message here)Dodds writes from Portsmouth Regional Hospital that he can't walk because his feet still are swollen, but that he expects to make a full recovery. He says he suffered a concussion, frostbite and hypothermia.
He was missing for 24 hours after the April 5 accident. When a searcher and dog found him the following night, he was going in and out of consciousness.
Dodds, who is from Rye, said he was on his way to meet his campaign treasurer when he swerved his car to miss something in the road -- possibly a deer -- then jumped over a guardrail and crashed in the woods.
The car's airbags inflated and Dodds thought he smelled smoke. After finding his own door was wedged shut, he climbed out the passenger side window, he said.
"After the accident, I was disoriented and remember being in frigid, deep water," Dodds said. "I managed to get out of the water, but when I did, I was cold and exhausted."
Rescuers believe Dodds crossed the Bellamy River. Dodds said he remembered walking up a snowy hill and into the woods, then covering himself with leaves to stay warm. He remembered little of the following day, except that he heard helicopters.
Dodds said he credits "healthy living" for his survival. He does not smoke or drink, eats healthy food and practices Tae Kwon Do, he said.
He is one of four Democrats who hope to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley in the November election.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
