Student, 19, who survived horror car crash by clinging to a tree in a freezing river for 12 HOURS reveals how she survived the accident that killed her best friend Griffin held onto a tree during the winter storm and swam across the next morning before climbing a hill of thorny bushes to flag down a passing driver Natalie Griffin survived a car crash by clinging onto a tree for 12 hours in a freezing creek after her best friend Jenna Santos died in the wreckage After narrowly surviving a car accident that killed her best friend, 19-year-old college student Natalie Griffin has spoken out about the harrowing near-death experience.