83-year-old woman on the mend after car plunge into swamp

Tillie Tooter, 83, is bruised but in good spirits as she describes her ordeal Friday from her bed at Broward General Hospital

Three days spent trapped in wreck awaiting rescue

In this story: 'I thought ... this is the end of me' Accident details still unclear 'The vehicle had been swallowed up by the trees' Witness saw car go off bridge RELATED STORIES, SITES

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- An 83-year-old Florida woman who amazed rescuers by surviving for three days in a snake-infested swamp inside her wrecked car told CNN on Friday she "did everything she could," including screaming and praying, when it seemed no one would find her.

VIDEO Tooter spoke with CNN Friday morning Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     CNN TRANSCRIPTS Transcript of Tillie Tooter's news conference this morning (August 18, 11:00 a.m. EDT)

But Tillie Tooter, badly bruised yet in good spirits, doesn't fault police and firefighters who didn't spot her after the car -- rammed from behind by a hit-and-run motorist, police believe -- plunged 40 feet off a bridge as she drove Sunday to the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, airport.

"It's very difficult," Tooter said from her bed at Broward General Hospital, where her condition has been upgraded from serious to fair. "You really can't blame them too much because there is an awful lot of swamp there. A lot of trees, tall trees."

While driving across a bridge on Interstate 595, "I suddenly got hit in the back," she said. "I never saw that car coming or truck, or whatever it was. I never saw it coming. My car was thrown across the highway to the opposite side and it fell off the road into a swamp-infested area."

At least two passing motorists called authorities to report what they had seen.

Firefighters came and peered over the bridge for 15 minutes, using spotlights and flashlights to illuminate the darkness. But they saw nothing, so Tooter remained trapped in her car until Tuesday when highway cleanup workers spotted her silver Toyota Tercel suspended in mangrove trees.

"I was lying in the car, on my side, trapped in the front seat," said Tooter, adding that she survived on a cough drop, peppermint candy, chewing gum and a button, which she sucked on to produce saliva in her mouth.

She also drank rainwater, which she collected in the pocket of a steering wheel cover. But the time did not pass easily.

After her car battery died and she could no longer honk the horn or flash the lights in hopes of attracting attention, "I screamed. I ranted. I raved. I cursed. I swore. I prayed. I begged. I pleaded. I talked to my mother who is gone 63 years. I did everything I could. I sang," Tooter told CNN.

"I didn't think I was going to make it," she said. "By Tuesday morning, I was really very bad -- weak, trembling all over and I thought that this is it ... this is the end of me."

The paramedics who hoisted her out of the swamp with the help of a crane and took her to the hospital said they were pleased that Tooter, who has diabetes and a heart condition, did not suffer much more than insect bites, blisters and bruises.

The Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department, praised as heroes Tuesday for pulling Tooter from the swamp, and the Florida Highway Patrol spent Thursday explaining how they failed to locate her initially even though one call to 911 stated a car had gone off the bridge.

They also had to explain why they didn't take another look after relatives reported that Tooter was missing.

Part of the problem apparently was that another car was damaged in an accident about the same time about a half mile from the bridge. That car sustained front-end damage -- Tooter's car was rear-ended.

Two men in their mid-20s, whose names were not released, told troopers their car had hit the concrete wall, but they did not mention any other vehicle being involved, said Stephen McInerny, the fire-rescue department's division chief.

Highway patrol Lt. John Bagnardi said it hadn't been determined whether that car caused Tooter's accident.

Fire department and highway patrol officials on Thursday blamed their inability to find Tooter the first time on the thick trees and the unwillingness of witnesses to stop and point out the exact spot where her car fell.

"The vehicle had been swallowed up by the trees and the brush and the muddy swamp floor," said Stephen McInerny, the fire-rescue department's division chief.

Even in daylight, he said, her car was impossible to see unless a person stood directly above it and looked straight down off the bridge. If one of the witnesses had stayed, maybe he or she could have pinpointed the point where the car fell, he said.

Highway patrol Lt. John Bagnardi said troopers were not sent to the bridge early Saturday after dispatchers received a motorist's call, but he could not explain why.

Witness Lidia Pena said Thursday she made it clear to a highway patrol dispatcher that she saw a car go off the bridge.

Pena did not see the collision, but saw brake lights, followed by a car climbing the retaining wall and somersaulting over. A second car then struck the wall, its hood popped up and it continued on the shoulder, she said.

Pena, 21, did not stop, but used her cell phone to call 911 and was transferred to a highway patrol dispatcher. The dispatcher never asked for her name or phone number, she said.

On her return home, Pena said she saw a trooper and fire-rescue personnel gathered near the car she saw strike the wall. She said she also saw an ambulance leaving the scene.

"I assumed everything was taken care of," Pena said.

Tooter, describing herself as a good driver, told CNN she was looking forward to getting behind the wheel again. "I wish to enjoy the new car that I've been given by the Toyota people," she said with a laugh.

The Associated Press and CNN.com Senior Writer Jim Morris contributed to this report.

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