Clara Norgaard tried to keep her friend Millie Mitchell talking after she was left incapacitated from a fall into a muddy ditch off a forest service road Saturday night.

Mitchell was responsive after falling, but as the hours passed and night fell, with the temperature nearing the freezing mark, she began to fade.

“I kept talking to her. I kept saying, ‘Millie you got to talk to me, please talk to me,’” Norgaard said.

Norgaard said she thought that was what she had to do to keep Mitchell from slipping into hypothermia.

“She would answer me back, but she was getting pretty cold and what she was saying wasn’t making very much sense the last couple of hours,” Norgaard said.

The two found themselves stranded in the woods after they attempted to search for a rumoured biosolids dumping site some 20 kilometres outside of town.

Mitchell and Norgaard drove up the Maka-Murray Forest Service Road late Saturday afternoon to investigate the alleged site, but Mitchell’s vehicle got bogged down in mud, stranding them in the wilderness until the early hours of Sunday morning.

“It was cold, really cold, and the wind was blowing through there and we were wet, which didn’t help,” Norgaard said. “It was a very unpleasant situation to be in.”

Norgaard was concerned for her life, but remained hopeful she and her friend would make it out alive.

Sadly, Mitchell passed away after being found and transferred to hospital.

During the ordeal, Norgaard stayed with Mitchell, and didn’t want to leave her alone.

“I just wanted to stay with her and make sure that she was OK,” Norgaard said, noting she wouldn’t have had much daylight left to venture for help on her own.

Norgaard tried to keep herself warm by moving around to keep her blood circulating.

Sometime after 2 a.m., RCMP officers finally located the two women.

“All I could think was thank goodness we’re saved, and I hollered to Millie and said, ‘Millie, we’re rescued,’ and that was it,” Norgaard said.

When Mitchell’s vehicle got stuck in the mud, she suggested they could walk out for help, Norgaard said.

It was still daylight at the time.

Norgaard said she thought they should stay with the car, but Mitchell was determined.

“I wasn’t going to let her walk out alone,” Norgaard said, noting Mitchell had difficulty getting around as she had recently recovered from a broken hip.

The two fell a few times while trying to walk out of the woods.

“It was pretty rough slugging,” she said.

Norgaard said Mitchell fell into the ditch after losing her balance trying to pull her foot out of some mud.

The ditch was about four feet deep and the fall dislocated Mitchell’s hip, leaving her unable to move, she said.

To help keep Mitchell out of the icy water, Norgaard propped her up with her canes.

“I tried to get her up much as I could so that she wasn’t lying on her back on this ice and water, and then I climbed up the bank and started yelling for help,” Norgaard said.

Norgaard was unable to pull Mitchell out of the ditch, noting it was too painful for Mitchell to be moved.

“Even the RCMP officers had a difficult time getting her up that hill,” Norgaard said.

Days after spending a frigid night in the woods, Norgaard said she’s gradually feeling warm again.

She said she’s thankful Mitchell was not alone when she went looking for the rumoured site that day as she doesn’t think RCMP would have been able to find her down in that ditch.

Norgaard said she wants the public to know that if a person takes a similar trip into the wilderness, ensure someone else knows where he or she is going and when to expect the person back.

She said bring blankets, a saw and an axe.

“And if you’re really stuck, don’t leave your vehicle. Stay with it,” Norgaard said.

Mitchell will be missed by the community, Norgaard said.

“She was an advocate for the well-being of our community and always has been.”