If your family was in danger, to what lengths would you go in order to save them?
Karen Klein, a 47-year-old woman from Pennsylvania, was willing to walk for over 36 hours in snow-covered ground in order to get help for her husband and son, NBC News reported.
The Klein family was enjoying a holiday vacation when their car got stuck in mud in the area close to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Knowing that her husband had recently been in an accident, Klein told NBC News she volunteered to go seek help.
But what she expected would be a somewhat short walk to the main road, suddenly became a 36-hour-long trek — alone. The nearby roads and visitor centers were closed, so she ended up walking almost 30 miles in the snow without cell service or snow boots, and nothing to eat but a small pack of cereal.
She told NBC News she thought, "I can't leave my son without a mom. I can't leave my husband without a wife. I'm not letting my parents bury me." When Klein didn't come back to the car, her husband was able to hike to higher ground and get enough of a cell phone signal to call for help. After walking an impressive 26 miles — at least — Klein broke into a vacant residence for park rangers. There, she was found by a search and rescue team. "This is a Christmas miracle," Jim Driscoll, chief deputy for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, told The Associated Press. "Our guys are ecstatic. This is a save. We were able to get a family back together for Christmas. It could have gone very bad very, very easily." Klein's husband and son were treated for exposure and released from a hospital in Utah, the AP reported. Meanwhile, Klein is currently being treated for exposure and some frostbitten toes. "In the grand scheme of things," she told NBC News, "I keep thinking, 'You know what? It's a few toes. Don't worry about it.'"
She told NBC News she thought, "I can't leave my son without a mom. I can't leave my husband without a wife. I'm not letting my parents bury me." When Klein didn't come back to the car, her husband was able to hike to higher ground and get enough of a cell phone signal to call for help. After walking an impressive 26 miles — at least — Klein broke into a vacant residence for park rangers. There, she was found by a search and rescue team. "This is a Christmas miracle," Jim Driscoll, chief deputy for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, told The Associated Press. "Our guys are ecstatic. This is a save. We were able to get a family back together for Christmas. It could have gone very bad very, very easily." Klein's husband and son were treated for exposure and released from a hospital in Utah, the AP reported. Meanwhile, Klein is currently being treated for exposure and some frostbitten toes. "In the grand scheme of things," she told NBC News, "I keep thinking, 'You know what? It's a few toes. Don't worry about it.'"