"She's got good feeling in her legs, arms and hands - there's no paralysis."
In an eerie foreshadowing, he'd warned his daughter just one week prior about the corner near Waipuka Rd, which is well known to locals.
His car had fish-tailed on the bend.
"The week before, we had a similar problem on the same corner. It's one we always take carefully - we'd said to our daughter to be extremely careful on that corner.
"It's a piece of road that needs looking at, and we've advised the police."
The woman had lost control in the wet conditions and was left trapped by her legs in the crumpled car.
She beeped her horn in a desperate attempt to summon help.
Luckily, a Waimarama Rd resident was wandering the rural property, searching for a steer that had gone missing after his son left the gate open.
He found the crash site and ran home to call emergency services.
He and his veterinarian wife then returned to the woman, assessed her condition, and rang her father.
"I drove to the site being careful not to let emotions take over," he said of the ordeal. His wife also made her way to the scene.
"I was at the crash scene just as the paramedics arrived. I just praised the lord she was still OK, still alive - because frankly, it could have been different.
"I told her that I loved her, that we've got help right here and they'll get you out."
Fire crews used the jaws of life to free the victim from the wreckage, while her parents looked on.
She was airlifted to Hawke's Bay Hospital in a critical condition and later transferred to Christchurch to receive treatment from a specialist team.
The father could not speak highly enough of the St John paramedics, fire crews and police who responded to the crash.
He was also heartened by support in the community for his daughter.
"Hundreds and hundreds of people are praying for her, people we've never even met," he said.
