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CENTERVILLE – A Salt Lake woman said members of the Davis County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team saved her life after she was stranded on a mountainside overnight in Centerville.
Brenda, who did not want to give her last name, set out on a hike up the Parrish Creek Trail along with her two dogs Saturday afternoon. It was supposed to be about a three-hour hike. Soon, the snow got deeper and the trail vanished.
At 10 p.m., Brenda called a friend for help. With just 1% power on her phone battery, the call dropped.
"At one point I felt myself start to panic. This is very hard — I don't know how long I can keep doing this," Brenda told KSL.
Fortunately, the friend heard enough to get help and the search and rescue team responded.
At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the rescue crews followed tracks in the snow up the canyon trail and eventually found Brenda and her dogs at about 8 a.m.
"I heard a voice and then I heard them say, 'Hello' and then I heard them say my name and when I heard them say my name I was like, 'This help is very close,'" she said. "It was just like absolute relief."
I felt myself start to panic. This is very hard — I don't know how long I can keep doing this.
–Brenda
Rescuers said Brenda was in stage two hypothermia and didn't have much time left because her body was shutting down.
"We got to her just in time," said search and rescue team member Eric Bornemeier. "She was definitely in that stage two hypothermia with active shivering, uncontrollable active shivering."
"They saved my life without a doubt," said Brenda. "I owe them my life and my dogs' life."
Theresa Ferrone, a close friend of Brenda's, was at the command post and said she could not believe the professionalism and the training of rescuers. "The search and rescue teams were amazing," she said.
"We are grateful for that acknowledgment but that is our job. It's what we do. That's what we train every day for," said Bornemeier.
