She might have been left on the porch, in the cold, until the official response to a found body could be organized.

By that time, whether her barely-maintained core functions would have continued is unknown.

Wally Nelson was, in his way, as responsible for the outcome as the physicians who wrapped her in heating pads.

The Cold That Kills And The Cold That Saves

There is a paradox at the heart of Jean Hilliard’s story that science has been working to understand for decades.

The cold that nearly killed her was also, in some measure, what kept her alive long enough to be saved.