Post by Rich on Mar 18, 2007 9:11:44 GMT -5
Saw this in the paper today, and I thought ... more news stories should be like this one. Figured I'd post it. Nothing earth shattering, but I did imagine how I'd feel if it were my mother.
www.canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/article.php?articleID=114546#
www.canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/article.php?articleID=114546#
Woman stranded in Manitoba thought her rescuer was a hallucination
MICHELLE MACAFEE
Published Friday March 16th, 2007
WINNIPEG (CP) - After enduring a fourth fitful night in the back of her Mercury Topaz, stranded on an isolated country road, Lorraine Muller was afraid to believe it when help finally arrived.
The 68-year-old had struggled to keep her spirits up with thoughts of her three sons and four grandchildren.
With her car out of gas and a battery long dead, Muller was frustrated that arthritis in her legs and hands kept her from walking through the snow for help.
But on Thursday morning, she awoke shivering to realize she was no longer alone. An RCMP officer had come by to investigate a farmer's report of a suspicious vehicle.
"That was such a beautiful sound . . . I thought I was hallucinating," Muller said Friday during one of many interviews in her son Raymond's Winnipeg home.
"I heard a car door and I heard crunching in the snow like somebody walking towards my car. He started scraping a little bit because my windows were all frosted up and said, 'Is anybody in there?' and I said, 'Yes, please open the door!' "
Muller, who lives in Gimli, Man., was taken to hospital but was soon released.
She is able to joke now about the ordeal, which began Sunday when she made a wrong turn driving to a relative's house after visiting her mother in the hospital in Morris, Man.
"I can't find my way out of a paper bag."
Her car got stuck in the snow. She could see a busy highway a few kilometres away and set out to try to walk to it, but quickly realized she didn't have the strength.
No longer able to walk upright, Muller walked on her knees towards her car before completely collapsing just a few metres away.
"My legs just wouldn't go anymore. My cane became my friend. I said, 'Come on, the two of us can do it.'
"Then I got one car's length and I thought, 'I'm not gonna die one car's length away from my car!' "
She then stayed put in the car for four nights and three days. While the temperature climbed above freezing during the day, it dipped as low as -15C on her last night.
She insists she was never hungry, but ate six peppermints she likes to keep on hand for her grandchildren and a stick of licorice.
A fan of the TV show Survivor, Muller knew she had to drink water. So she collected snow in two plastic containers and melted it by the sun on her dashboard.
A winter-driving survival kit she had packed in her trunk provided a candle as well as a blanket.
She also had on a heavy parka, a lighter jacket she had brought with her, a tuque, thick wool socks and running shoes.
She thought about trying to light a fire outside the car using the handle of her snow brush in hopes the smoke would attract attention, but she ran out of matches.
By Tuesday night, despair had set in.
"I really had a hard time facing it, but I had no choice. What was the alternative?" said Muller.
"I couldn't stand what my family must have been going through."
Indeed, Raymond Muller and his two brothers were frantic to realize their mother had not arrived at the relative's house as planned Sunday night.
"We were doing our best imitation of Crime Scene Investigation Winnipeg," said Muller, 47.
Family members tried to track credit card numbers to see if they were being used, as well as all possible sightings being called in to police.
His voice cracks as he describes his mother's strength.
"I'm absolutely amazed and proud and astounded that she actually kept her wits together and made it through all this," said Raymond.
He says his brother Dennis drove by his mother several times during the search, but wasn't looking in the direction of the dead-end road she was stuck on.
The family tried to stay optimistic, but feared the stress of their grandmother's illness had left their mother emotional and wandering around outdoors disoriented.
He can now joke about his mother's dramatic week lost on the prairie, calling her a "tough ol' bird" and teasing her about loving all the media attention she's receiving.
But he turns serious when talking about making sure it doesn't happen again.
"She is definitely going to have a cellphone in her car, whether she likes it or not. We'll probably leave it permanently plugged into her cigarette lighter."
Lorraine Muller agrees a cellphone will be her first purchase.
But despite her poor sense of direction, she has no plans to limit her travel.
"They wouldn't dare try to stop me!"
MICHELLE MACAFEE
Published Friday March 16th, 2007
WINNIPEG (CP) - After enduring a fourth fitful night in the back of her Mercury Topaz, stranded on an isolated country road, Lorraine Muller was afraid to believe it when help finally arrived.
The 68-year-old had struggled to keep her spirits up with thoughts of her three sons and four grandchildren.
With her car out of gas and a battery long dead, Muller was frustrated that arthritis in her legs and hands kept her from walking through the snow for help.
But on Thursday morning, she awoke shivering to realize she was no longer alone. An RCMP officer had come by to investigate a farmer's report of a suspicious vehicle.
"That was such a beautiful sound . . . I thought I was hallucinating," Muller said Friday during one of many interviews in her son Raymond's Winnipeg home.
"I heard a car door and I heard crunching in the snow like somebody walking towards my car. He started scraping a little bit because my windows were all frosted up and said, 'Is anybody in there?' and I said, 'Yes, please open the door!' "
Muller, who lives in Gimli, Man., was taken to hospital but was soon released.
She is able to joke now about the ordeal, which began Sunday when she made a wrong turn driving to a relative's house after visiting her mother in the hospital in Morris, Man.
"I can't find my way out of a paper bag."
Her car got stuck in the snow. She could see a busy highway a few kilometres away and set out to try to walk to it, but quickly realized she didn't have the strength.
No longer able to walk upright, Muller walked on her knees towards her car before completely collapsing just a few metres away.
"My legs just wouldn't go anymore. My cane became my friend. I said, 'Come on, the two of us can do it.'
"Then I got one car's length and I thought, 'I'm not gonna die one car's length away from my car!' "
She then stayed put in the car for four nights and three days. While the temperature climbed above freezing during the day, it dipped as low as -15C on her last night.
She insists she was never hungry, but ate six peppermints she likes to keep on hand for her grandchildren and a stick of licorice.
A fan of the TV show Survivor, Muller knew she had to drink water. So she collected snow in two plastic containers and melted it by the sun on her dashboard.
A winter-driving survival kit she had packed in her trunk provided a candle as well as a blanket.
She also had on a heavy parka, a lighter jacket she had brought with her, a tuque, thick wool socks and running shoes.
She thought about trying to light a fire outside the car using the handle of her snow brush in hopes the smoke would attract attention, but she ran out of matches.
By Tuesday night, despair had set in.
"I really had a hard time facing it, but I had no choice. What was the alternative?" said Muller.
"I couldn't stand what my family must have been going through."
Indeed, Raymond Muller and his two brothers were frantic to realize their mother had not arrived at the relative's house as planned Sunday night.
"We were doing our best imitation of Crime Scene Investigation Winnipeg," said Muller, 47.
Family members tried to track credit card numbers to see if they were being used, as well as all possible sightings being called in to police.
His voice cracks as he describes his mother's strength.
"I'm absolutely amazed and proud and astounded that she actually kept her wits together and made it through all this," said Raymond.
He says his brother Dennis drove by his mother several times during the search, but wasn't looking in the direction of the dead-end road she was stuck on.
The family tried to stay optimistic, but feared the stress of their grandmother's illness had left their mother emotional and wandering around outdoors disoriented.
He can now joke about his mother's dramatic week lost on the prairie, calling her a "tough ol' bird" and teasing her about loving all the media attention she's receiving.
But he turns serious when talking about making sure it doesn't happen again.
"She is definitely going to have a cellphone in her car, whether she likes it or not. We'll probably leave it permanently plugged into her cigarette lighter."
Lorraine Muller agrees a cellphone will be her first purchase.
But despite her poor sense of direction, she has no plans to limit her travel.
"They wouldn't dare try to stop me!"