In December 1980, 19-year-old Jean Hilliard from Lengby, Minnesota, slid her car into a ditch on an icy rural road during a bitterly cold night with temperatures at -22°F. She decided to walk about two miles to a friend’s house for help but collapsed unconscious in the snow just 15 feet from the door, where she lay exposed and frozen solid for six to seven hours. The next morning, rancher Wally Nelson discovered her rigid body—described as hard as a log, with frozen-open eyes and no detectable vital signs—and rushed her to the local hospital, where doctors initially thought she was dead. Miraculously, after slow warming with heating pads and community prayers, she revived within hours, made a full recovery with no amputations or lasting damage, and went on to live a normal life, leaving medical experts baffled by her survival.
Branch of Hope:
In 2012, Dare for More founder Reba Bowman traveled to the Dominican Republic and saw firsthand the plight of women and girls. There are many places in the world where women are treated as expendable. This toxic culture leads to exploitation in every way imaginable. Poverty can be the tipping point sending women and children into crisis. The pressure of living on as little as $1.25 per day can leave women and children vulnerable to trafficking. Millions of women and children are exploited every day as a result of human trafficking. Many factors lead women and children to a crisis point. Some are marginalized by their community, others are widowed, orphaned, abused, or neglected, and most have no one who is listening to their cries for help. Dare For More believes that helping the vulnerable before they become victims is an important part of their work. In each community, they reach out to those who are in need and help them find stability through life-skill and job-skill training. These opportunities not only create immediate change for the family but long-term change for generations to come.
Sources:
Enger, J. (2018, January 25). Frozen. Thawed. Not dead: Jean Hilliard’s amazing Minnesota story. MPR News. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/01/25/jean-hilliard-northern-minnesota-frozen-survived
McRae, M. (2023, October 23). Amazing true story: The woman who survived being “Frozen Solid.” ScienceAlert. https://www.sciencealert.com/amazing-true-story-the-woman-who-survived-being-frozen-solid
Connare, C. (2026, January 27). Frozen Stiff: A true story of winter survival. Almanac.com. https://www.almanac.com/extra/frozen-stiff-true-story-winter-survival
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This episode of The Dark Oak was created, researched, written, recorded, hosted, edited, published, and marketed by Cynthia and Stefanie of Just Us Gals Productions with artwork by Justyse Himes and Music by Ryan Creep