Imagine being trapped in a snow drift in your very own vehicle and you can't get out? This sounds like a bad nightmare, but it almost proved fatal for one 58 year-old New York state man. If not for the persistence of first responders this man would probably not be here now.

While the Hudson Valley endured anywhere from a foot to nearly two feet of snow late Wednesday and early Thursday, parts of the Southern Tier got absolutely walloped with record snowfall totals that exceeded 40 inches in some areas. This was one of the state's most powerful Nor'easters in years. It goes without saying that driving in weather like that is very, very dangerous.

NBC says that Kevin Kresen drove off the road into ditch near Owego late Wednesday. Cell phone reception was poor, so attempts to call 911 were mostly unsuccessful. Responders didn't know where exactly he was. There's a lot of open countryside in that part of the state to consider as well, so there were many places he could be. To make matters worse, a plow blew by and completely buried the man's Ford Fusion in a giant white wall of snow. Now he was trapped, and it was getting very cold. State Police Sergeant Jason Cawley said:

If he was in there for another hour his body temperature would have gone lower, and I’m convinced he wouldn't have made it.

Kresen, who's from Candor, NY, would spend ten grueling hours trapped in his vehicle. By the time Sgt. Cawley found him, frostbite and hypothermia had set in. NBC says he wasn't even shivering anymore, which is a very bad sign. It wasn't looking good.

Police say Kresen finally got through to 911 a few times, and his location was narrowed down to a three mile stretch near the Susquehanna River. NBC says that Sgt. Cawley climbed miles of snow banks and eventually ended up near one that just looked a little different.

I reached in to find which address I was at when I punched the side window of a car. I was a little shocked because I was actually standing almost on top of the car.

Cawley and a passer-by both helped clear the glass and pulled Kresen from his vehicle. The story has a happy ending however. After ten long and scary hours entombed in his very own vehicle, Kresen was free. The NY Times says that Kresen was taken to Ascension Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, where he was treated for frostbite and hypothermia and released.

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