Only In Minnesota: Woman Survives Freezing Solid

We've probably all felt like we were frozen solid sometime during our cold and snowy winter, but this Minnesota woman literally did freeze-- and lived to tell about it.

There was a recent story from last weekend about a Mantorville man who spent most of Friday night outside. This story is similar, but in this case, we're talking about spending 6 hours outside-- when temperatures had dipped to nearly 25 below. And the woman s survived.

The story isn't new, it happened back in 1980. You might have seen it featured on the show 'Unsolved Mysteries.' Jean Hilliard was 19-years-old when her car slid into the ditch and forced her to try walk home one bitter cold winter night near Lengby, Minnesota, about 5 and half hours northwest of Rochester. But she ended up passing out on her neighbor's porch, where she remained for 6 hours-- in the 25 below zero weather.

When her neighbor found her and called for an ambulance, she was frozen solid-- literally. This MPR story says she was unconscious with severe frostbite-- so severe, her limbs literally would not move, and doctors couldn't even get an IV into her frozen arm.

The medical team at Fosston Hospital, where she was taken, feared the worst, but started warming her with heating pads-- somewhat antiquated by today's medical practices-- and somehow, Jean managed to wake up the next day. She would eventually go on to make a full recovery, too-- though she did spend almost a month and a half in the hospital.

These days, while Jean still lives in Cambridge, she can't remember all the details of that fateful, frigid night. But, yeah. She literally froze solid-- and lived. You can read more about this miraculous Minnesota winter story from Unsolved Mysteries HERE.

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