Woman survives fall into icy ravine as her body drops to 25C  

A woman survived nine hours in sub-zero temperatures after falling 30ft into an icy ravine.

Mandy Evans became so cold that her body temperature fell from 98.6F (37C) to 77F (25C), bringing her close to death.

When rescuers found the 43-year-old, her heart had slowed so much that they first believed she was dead.

Dr Linda Dykes, who treated Mrs Evans at Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor, North Wales, said that anything below 86F (30C) could be critical.

She said: "At 25C she was the coldest person I've seen by at least four degrees.

"That's not a record by a long way, but the mortality rate for hypothermia when the temperature is so cold is very high.

"We warmed her up by giving her warm oxygen and infusing warm fluids in various ways.

"We passed warm air over blankets while we looked for other injuries and gave her a scan."

Mrs Evans described yesterday how she fell down the ravine at Coed Pandy near her home in Dolgellau, north Wales, while looking for her 17-year-old son, Scott, at 2am on Easter Sunday, although the family did not say why.

She spent the night in freezing temperatures as a search party, which included her husband, Keith, and daughter, Hayley, 19, looked for her.

Mrs Evans was eventually found at 11am by Scott, Paul Crowley her daughter's boyfriend, and his friend Wayne Povey.

Mr Crowley, 22, said: "When I saw her lying there I thought the worst. Scott was really upset to see his mum and Wayne took him away to tell the others where we were.

"I stayed with Mandy until more help arrived."

Police and paramedics took care of Mrs Evans until a helicopter arrived from RAF Valley to take her to hospital.

From her hospital bed, Mrs Evans, who broke a rib, said: "I'm lucky to be alive. I lost my footing on the path and fell into a tree.

"I was hanging onto it upside down and trying to pull myself up. I was calling out for help. It was dark but I knew there was a sheer drop. I thought to myself if I fell I would be dead. My clothes ripped and I fell. I ended up half in the river with my head on a rock.

"It was raining and I'm lucky I wasn't washed away by the water.

"Dr Dykes says I'll be in the record books. She said I did incredibly well to come round so quickly."

Records show that Mrs Evans is the coldest person ever admitted to the hospital with hypothermia and survived.

When a person reaches temperatures of 89.6F (32C) it is classed as a medical emergency.

Symptoms can include hallucinations, delirium, complete confusion and extreme sleepiness.

At 82.4F (28C) people will experience severe heart rhythm disturbances and breathing may stop at any time.

However, when body temperature reaches about 78.8F (26C) or less, death usually occurs because of an irregular heart beat or respiratory arrest.

Patients have been known to survive with body temperatures as low as 57.5F (14.2C).