Episode
Episode 144: The Ice Miracle - Jean Hilliard
- Podcast
- The Dark Oak
- Published
- Mar 11, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3353
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
In December 1980, 19-year-old Jean Hilliard from Lengby, Minnesota, slid her car into a ditch on an icy rural road during a bitterly cold night with temperatures at -22°F. She decided to walk about two miles to a friend's house for help but collapsed unconscious in the snow just 15 feet from the door, where she lay exposed and frozen solid for six to seven hours. The next morning, rancher Wally Nelson discovered her rigid body—described as hard as a log, with frozen-open eyes and no detectable vital signs—and rushed her to the local hospital, where doctors initially thought she was dead. Miraculously, after slow warming with heating pads and community prayers, she revived within hours, made a full recovery with no amputations or lasting damage, and went on to live a normal life, leaving medical experts baffled by her survival. Branch of Hope: https://www.dareformore.org/ In 2012, Reba Bowman, founder of Dare for More, traveled to the Dominican Republic to speak at a women's event. What she witnessed there forever changed her—and the direction of the ministry.She saw firsthand the devastating plight of women and girls in places where toxic cultural norms treat them as disposable. In these environments, exploitation takes countless cruel forms, and extreme poverty often becomes the breaking point, pushing vulnerable women and children into unimaginable crises. Living on as little as $1.25 a day creates desperate pressure that leaves families exposed to human trafficking and other forms of abuse. Globally, millions of women and children endure exploitation every day as a result. Many factors drive individuals to this edge: marginalization by their own communities, widowhood, orphanhood, abuse, neglect, or simply having no one to hear their cries for help. At Dare for More…