On December 20th, 1980, 19-year-old Jean Hilliard experienced what doctors call medically impossible. After her car slid off an icy road in rural Minnesota during a blizzard with temperatures at -22°F, Jean made the difficult decision to walk two miles through whiteout conditions to reach her friend Wally Nelson's farmhouse. Dressed only in cowboy boots and a winter coat, she battled brutal winds and life-threatening cold for over an hour.

In a cruel twist of fate, Jean collapsed just 15 feet from Wally's front door, where she lay face-down in the snow for six hours. When Wally found her the next morning, she was frozen solid - literally crystallized, with her body rigid as a board and her skin hard as stone. Hospital staff initially thought he was bringing them a corpse, as her body temperature was too low to register on their thermometers and they couldn't find a pulse or blood pressure.

Yet incredibly, Jean not only survived but made a complete recovery with no amputations or permanent damage. After 49 days of observation, she walked out of the hospital completely healthy, leaving medical professionals baffled. This episode explores the science behind her miraculous survival, featuring insights from hypothermia expert Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht (aka "Professor Popsicle"), and examines how Jean returned to a normal life after becoming briefly famous as "The Miracle Girl from Lengby, Minnesota."

0:00 Introduction to Case Knives
00:32 Welcome to the Crux True Survival Story Podcast
00:53 Introducing Jean Hilliard's Incredible Survival Story
01:39 The Fateful Night Begins
03:47 Jean's Struggle Through the Blizzard
10:05 The Collapse and Discovery
15:12 The Medical Miracle
18:25 Wally Nelson's Dilemma
21:39 Arrival at the Hospital
23:38 The Fight for Survival
24:54 Ruff Greens
26:47 Primitive Rewarming Methods in the 1980s
28:22 Jean's Miraculous Recovery Begins
31:10 Jean's Unbelievable Survival
33:26 The Science Behind Hypothermia Survival
41:35 Jean's Life After the Incident
45:55 Professor Popsicle and Hypothermia Research
50:36 Final Thoughts on Human Resilience

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1. Montreal Gazette - "Frozen Solid Teen Girl on Way to Full Recovery" (December 30, 1980)
2. The New York Times - "Dakota Teen-Ager Recovers After Being 'Frozen Stiff'" (January 2, 1981)
3. Thirteen Towns newspaper, Fosston - Local coverage with headline "Woman, 19, baffles doctors: Terrible frozen ordeal has happy ending"
4. MPR News (Minnesota Public Radio) - "Frozen. Thawed. Not dead: Jean Hilliard's amazing Minnesota story" (January 25, 2018)
5. All That's Interesting - "Jean Hilliard: The Woman Who Froze Solid And Thawed Back To Life" (May 25, 2021)
6. ScienceAlert - "Amazing True Story: The Woman Who Survived Being 'Frozen Solid'" (October 23, 2023)
7. Snopes.com - "Jean Hilliard: Miracle on Ice" (February 18, 2015) - Fact-checking article confirming the story's authenticity
8. Almanac.com - "Frozen Stiff: A True Story of Winter Survival"
9. Bushcraft Buddy - "Jean Hilliard - Surviving being frozen" (September 22, 2024)
10. Your Weather UK - "The story of a woman who survived being frozen for 6 hours" (September 29, 2022)
11. Outside Magazine - "Meet Dr. Popsicle, Hypothermia Expert" and "Meet Prof. Popsicle" (Multiple dates)
12. McGill University Office for Science and Society - "Professor Popsicle's Physiological Proof" (February 17, 2023)
13. Pacific Yachting - "Cold Water Shock and Hypothermia" (June 20, 2024) - Details on 1-10-1 Principle
14. Sage Journals - "Prehospital treatment of hypothermia" by Gordon G. Giesbrecht (2001)
15. Wally Nelson - Multiple interviews over the decades, including 2018 MPR interview, providing firsthand account of discovering Jean
16. Jean Hilliard herself - Various interviews from 1980s through present day, including Today Show appearance
17. Today Show appearance - Jean Hilliard interviewed by Tom Brokaw (1981)
18. Unsolved Mysteries - Television episode featuring Jean's case

This gripping episode explores one of climbing's most harrowing incidents—the 2000 kidnapping of four young American climbers in Kyrgyzstan's remote mountains. Tommy Caldwell, Beth Rodden, Jason Singer Smith, and John Dickey were world-class athletes with a North Face sponsorship to establish first ascents on untouched granite walls. Their dream expedition turned into a nightmare on August 12, 2000, when they were awakened by bullets striking the rock around their portaledges 1,000 feet up the Yellow Wall.

Armed militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan forced them to rappel down and took them hostage, executing their Kyrgyz guide to demonstrate their seriousness. For six days, the climbers endured starvation (sharing one PowerBar daily among six people), forced night marches through freezing terrain, and firefights between their captors and military forces.

The dramatic escape came when the militants left only one young guard named Su to watch all four hostages on treacherous rocky terrain. When Su became distracted trying to reach safer ground, Tommy Caldwell pushed him off the cliff, believing he had killed him. All four climbers fled through the night to a military outpost.

The trauma affected each climber differently. Tommy channeled the experience into obsessive climbing focus, which proved crucial when he accidentally severed his index finger in 2001—he chose amputation and learned to climb better with nine fingers. This mental fortitude led to his famous 2015 Dawn Wall ascent on El Capitan, considered the hardest big wall climb in history. Beth struggled with PTSD, nightmares, and initially lost her love for climbing, though she later became a mental health advocate and published a memoir. The incident became a watershed moment in climbing, highlighting both the sport's capacity to develop mental toughness and the importance of recognizing trauma in extreme sports communities.

Show Notes & Timestamps
[02:30] Setting the Scene - Introduction to the four sponsored climbers and their dream expedition to establish first ascents in Kyrgyzstan's Pamir Alay Mountains in August 2000.

[08:15] The Kidnapping - How the climbers were awakened by gunfire while sleeping in portaledges 1,000 feet up the wall, forced to rappel down to armed militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.

[15:45] Six Days of Captivity - Details of their ordeal including starvation (sharing one PowerBar daily), forced marches through freezing mountains, and witnessing the execution of their Kyrgyz guide.

[22:10] The Escape - The dramatic moment when Tommy Caldwell pushed 20-year-old guard "Sue" off a cliff, allowing all four climbers to flee to safety at a Kyrgyz military outpost.

[28:40] Long-term Impact - How the trauma affected each climber differently, Tommy's later finger amputation and Dawn Wall achievement, Beth's PTSD struggles, and the bizarre conspiracy theories questioning their story's authenticity.

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Get ready for the most unbelievable survival story you've ever heard. Hosts Kaycee McIntosh and Julie Henningsen deliver a jaw-dropping tale that sounds like Hollywood fiction but is 100% real—and it happened at 400 mph, 17,000 feet above ground.

Picture this: June 10th, 1990. British Airways Flight 5390. Thirteen minutes after takeoff, the cockpit windscreen explosively blows out, and Captain Tim Lancaster gets literally sucked halfway out of the aircraft. For 22 agonizing minutes, he's pinned against the fuselage—outside a commercial airliner—while his crew desperately holds onto his legs and fights to land the plane.

This isn't just a survival story—it's a masterclass in:

• Split-second decision making under impossible pressure
• How tiny maintenance errors can cascade into life-or-death emergencies
• The extraordinary power of human resilience and teamwork
• What happens to the human body at extreme altitude (spoiler: it's not pretty)
• Why aviation safety procedures exist—and what happens when they fail

Kaycee and Julie break down this incredible true story minute-by-minute, from the catastrophic windscreen failure to the heroic actions of First Officer Alistair Atkinson and flight attendant Nigel Ogden. You'll learn about the physics of explosive decompression, the investigation that revealed shocking maintenance failures, and how Captain Lancaster somehow survived conditions that should have killed him in minutes.

Key Timestamps:

• 00:00- Case Knives
• 00:33 - Welcome & Story Introduction
• 03:32 - Setting the Scene: June 10th, 1990
• 08:13 - The Explosion: Windscreen Blows Out
• 15:56 - First Officer Takes Control
• 20:47 - Emergency Landing at Southampton
• 23:44 - Captain Lancaster's Miraculous Recovery
• 26:56 - Investigation: The Maintenance Failures
• 31:27 - The Science: What Happens to Your Body at Altitude
• 40:23 - Lessons Learned & Aviation Changes

In this episode of 'The Crux: Disaster Strikes,' host Julie Henningsin delves into the harrowing story of the cargo ship El Faro, which sank near The Bahamas on October 1st, 2015, claiming all 33 lives on board. Through the recovered voyage data recorder, we gain a chilling insight into the ship's final hours. Henningsin explores the crew dynamics, the weather challenges, and the human errors that compounded the disaster. The episode highlights the systemic issues in maritime safety and the lessons learned to prevent future tragedies, paying tribute to the lost crew members.
00:00 Introduction to the El Faro Disaster
01:26 The Ship and Its Final Voyage
04:31 Weather Warnings and Crew Concerns
06:45 The Storm Intensifies
09:49 Critical Moments and Decisions
12:22 The Final Hours
19:36 Search, Recovery, and Investigation
29:28 Lessons and Legacy
32:35 Conclusion and Tribute

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In this episode of The Crux True Survival Story Podcast, hosts Kaycee McIntosh and Julie Henningsen explore the ill-fated voyage of the Karluk during the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition. They discuss the questionable leadership of expedition organizer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the concerns about the ship's seaworthiness, and the harrowing events that followed when the vessel became trapped in ice. The episode covers the dramatic sinking of the ship, the incredible 80-mile journey across shifting ice to Wrangel Island, and Captain Bartlett's heroic 700-mile trek to secure rescue. Through captivating storytelling and analysis, this episode highlights how leadership decisions, preparation, and resilience determined the fate of the expedition members in one of the most remarkable Arctic survival stories of the early 20th century.

00:00 Welcome to the Crux True Survival Story Podcast

02:24 The Karluk: A Questionable Vessel for Arctic Exploration

06:28 Trapped in Ice and Stefansson's Departure

09:49 Christmas Celebrations Despite Dire Circumstances

11:17 Dramatic Final Moments with Chopin's Funeral March

13:32 The Treacherous March to Wrangel Island

15:41 Bartlett's Epic Journey for Rescue

18:24 The Rescue After Eight Months

20:45 Stefansson's Continued Career and Lack of Remorse

22:49 The Ada Blackjack Story and Stefansson's Legacy

23:55 Podcast Conclusion and Listener Engagement

References

1. Bartlett, R. A., & Hale, R. T. (1916). The Last Voyage of the Karluk: Flagship of Vilhjalmur Stefansson's Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-16. Cooper Square Press.
2. McKinlay, W. L. (1976). The Last Voyage of the Karluk: A Survivor's Memoir of Arctic Disaster. St. Martin's Press.
3. "Last voyage of the Karluk." (2025, February 3). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_voyage_of_the_Karluk
4. "Karluk (1884 ship)." (2025, March 12). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMCS_Karluk
5. "Robert Bartlett (explorer)." (2025, April 12). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bartlett_(explorer)
6. Bartlett, R. A. (2001). The Karluk's Last Voyage: An Epic of Death and Survival in the Arctic. Cooper Square Press.
7. "The Karluk Disaster." Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/exploration/karluk-disaster.php
8. "The Karluk Disaster – The Wrangel Island Saga." Dartmouth College. https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/thewrangelislandsaga/the-karluk-disaster-2/
9. "Robert Abram Bartlett." The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-abram-bartlett
10. "Wrangel Island." Arctic Portal. https://arcticportal.org/education/quick-facts/the-arctic/3711-wrangel-island
11. "Defying the Ice: Shipwreck and Rescue of the Karluk." Bowdoin College. https://www.bowdoin.edu/news/2016/07/defying-the-ice-shipwreck-and-rescue-of-the-karluk-at-arctic-museum.html
12. "Transcribing Historical Documents – Captain Robert Bartlett's Journal from the Karluk." Bowdoin College. https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/news/2020/transcribing-historical-documents-captain-robert-bartletts-journal-from-the-karluk.html# "FROZEN FATES: SURVIVAL AGAINST THE ODDS"

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