What started out as a nice recreational drive “with no particular destination” turned into a fight for survival as Arizona State University Senior Lauren Elizabeth Weinberg was found stranded with her Toyota Corolla in a heavy snowstorm in northeastern Arizona for 10 days.
Weinberg told Arizona police that she left her mother’s home in Phoenix on December 11 for a drive when she drove through a paved road that turned to dirt 46 miles south from the town of Winslow. Navigating through unfamiliar roads, the situation quickly worsened when a horrible storm unleashed several feet of snow, entombing her Corolla.
Not leaving her vehicle, and not deviating from the main road, Lauren Weinberg survived off two candy bars and snow that she melted into water by using a water bottle and placing it in the sun.
Finally, U.S. Forest Service employees reached the road on snowmobiles and found a hungry, thirsty and cold Weinberg that was coherent and happy to be found.
In a statement from the Medical Center, Weinberg says, “I am so thankful to be alive and warm. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers– they worked. At times I was afraid, but mostly I had faith that I would be found.”
[Source: USAToday]