The father of a teenager who spent 30 hours trapped in a crashed car in the NSW bush says he knew his son hadn't run away, so followed his intuition and hired a helicopter to look for him.
When 17-year-old Samuel Lethbridge failed to return to his home in Blacksmiths at Lake Macquarie on Sunday night, his family decided to search for him.
Tony Lethbridge suspected his son may have been in a car crash, and the helicopter he hired on Monday morning was used to spot the car in scrub off the Pacific Highway at Crangan Bay.
By the time emergency services reached Samuel he had been trapped in the smashed Hyundai for more than a day, and was suffering from multiple fractures.
"Everybody was saying he's probably run away and all that kind of stuff. That's just not Samuel," Mr Lethbridge told Network Seven on Tuesday.
Mr Lethbridge was told his son was tired when he left to drive home on Sunday.
"We did have an accident here about five years ago - exactly the same thing - and unfortunately that bloke passed away because nobody found him within five days," he said.
"I wasn't going to let that happen."
Samuel's uncle Michael Lethbridge was in the chopper when the smashed vehicle was located 20 metres off the highway, about 20 kilometres south of the family home.
"The pilot ... took the doors out so we could see clearly and within 10 minutes of going down the highway we saw Sam's car," he told 3AW Radio.
"We were so lucky because for those first 10 minutes it was really thick, wooded land and then Sam's car is white so it just stood out."
The helicopter dropped Michael off about 150 metres away from the wreckage as it was too dangerous to land, and the pilot hovered above waiting for his signal.
"I really didn't want to go, I was scared of what I'd find. As I got closer I seen Sam's head move," he said.
"I went from being terrified to ecstatic in a couple of seconds."
Samuel was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be cut free by emergency services.
He was taken to John Hunter Hospital where he's undergone surgery for multiple fractures and remains in a serious condition.
Local helicopter company Heliservices Newcastle & Hunter says it costs between $1000-$2000 per hour to hire a small chopper.
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