Her toes, which had been among the most severely affected areas, developed blisters as the tissue thawed — a sign of the fluid accumulation that occurs when cell membranes damaged by freezing leak fluid into the surrounding tissue.

The blistering of her toes was the most significant lasting physical consequence of her night on the porch.

She was treated for these injuries, and she did not lose any toes — a remarkable outcome given the degree of exposure she had suffered.

The toes healed.

By noon on December 21 — twelve hours after Wally Nelson found her on his porch, and approximately six to eight hours after she arrived at the hospital — Jean Hilliard was talking.

Not perfectly, not with complete coherence, but talking.