Woman walks 26 miles in snow, survives on twigs to help stranded family

A Pennsylvania mother ate pine tree twigs to survive frigid temperatures during an attempt to find help for her family last week. The woman's family was stranded in their car after it got stuck in a snowy ditch in a remote area of Utah.

Karen Klein, her husband, Eric, and their 10-year-old son, Isaac, were driving from Bryce Canyon National Park to the Grand Canyon National Park's north rim to sightsee Thursday, according to Klein's sister, Kristen Haase, who detailed the ordeal in an email to Philly.com.

As the road the family was traveling on began to get covered in snow, they decided to turn around in their rental car and head back to the main highway, but in the process, they got stuck in a ditch.

As the weather worsened, Klein decided to get out of the car and hike back to the main road about 10 miles away and try to flag down a car for assistance.

"I said, 'I'll go, I'll just walk up to the main road. I'm a runner,'" Klein told NBC News.

But when when she reached the highway, it was closed down due to the snowstorm. She saw a sign saying the entrance of a Grand Canyon park was 14 miles away, so she decided to keep walking.

Klein, 46, walked for nearly 30 hours straight. After running out of food -- she had brought a pack of Cheerios with her -- she began consuming twigs, according to her sister. According to Philly.com, eating snow can hasten hypothermia. Klein said she didn't sleep because she didn't want to freeze to death.

When Klein didn't return to her husband and son, the two left the car and walked in the opposite direction until they were able to get cellular reception. They called 911, and rescue crews were sent to save the family.

Klein, who had come across an uninhabited residence after about two-dozen hours of trekking, broke into the house for warmth, NBC reported.

Rescue crews found Klein in the cabin, and she was transported to an intensive care unit at a Utah hospital. Her husband and son were treated for frostbite and released. She was in stable condition Sunday, Philly.com reported.

Coconino County Chief Deputy Jim Driscoll called the rescue a "Christmas miracle."

"Our guys are ecstatic. This is a save," Driscoll said of the searchers. "We were able to get a family back together for Christmas. It could have gone very bad very, very easily."

"The story is truly remarkable," Haase said. "I am not sure how she survived."

Klein, from Easton, Pennsylvania, said she thought of her family to motivate herself to endure the ordeal.

"I can't leave my son without a mom," she recalled thinking. "I'm can't leave my husband without a wife. I'm not letting my parents bury me."

Klein is an assistant biology professor at Northampton Community College. According to her sister, she has had wilderness survival training.

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