Swede survives two months in frozen car

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A Swedish man was pulled barely alive from his snow-covered car, having survived on nothing but snow for two months in sub-zero temperatures, the Daily Mail has reported.

According to the report, Peter Skyllberg, 44, had eaten nothing but handfuls of snow since December 19 when his car became bogged down in drifts near the town of Umea in northern Sweden.

"Pictures of the vehicle's interior show the dashboard and seats covered in ice after temperatures plunged to -30ºC," the Daily Mail report said. "Experts think he went into a kind of human hibernation which slowed down his metabolism and pulled him through the ordeal in what they have described as the 'case of a lifetime'."

Skyllberg, the newspaper report said, had driven off the main road on to forest tracks where his car became stuck fast. He was found last Friday by a passing man on a snowmobile who had stopped to scrape snow from the windscreen of the vehicle and saw movement inside.

As Skyllberg recovered in a hospital yesterday, details emerged of depression and debts piling up on him and it is thought he might have been trying to take his own life.

"Police initially thought he was a nature lover who had become trapped in the snow while on an expedition to photograph elk," the Daily Mail reported. "But now it emerges there was a court judgement against him in December because of debts totalling £150,000."

According to the newspaper, Skyllberg's neighbours in the town of Orebro in central Sweden said he had also broken up with his girlfriend and had lost contact with his father and other family members 20 years ago.

"We now have to wait until he is better to try to find out what really was in his mind," the Daily Mail quoted police officer Ebbe Nyberg.

According to the report, Skyllberg survived by taking handfuls of snow from the roof of the car. The only other things found with him were cigarettes and comic books.

"Absolutely incredible that he is alive, in part considering that he hasn't had any food, but also bearing in mind that it was really cold for a while there after Christmas," the newspaper quoted a member of the emergency services team deployed to rescue Skyllberg.

He was emaciated, barely able to move and could barely speak.

"He was at the end of his tether," the Daily Mail quoted a police spokesman. "It was doubtful he could have survived one or two more days."

Skyllberg was said to have been wrapped up in a sleeping bag in the car, but he had no other warmth; the fuel had run out long ago as he kept the heater running to try to survive as the thermometer plunged on some nights to -30ºC.

The newspaper report also said that pictures show food wrappers and drink cartons, which suggest the Swede may have had supplies with him for at least some of the time.

"Skyllberg is recovering in the intensive care ward at Umea University Hospital where he is being fed liquid proteins," the Mail said. "He has hypothermia and is severely malnourished."

The newspaper also reported that he was never registered as missing, for which there is currently no explanation.

"He was in a very poor state when we found him. He could not speak, just a few broken sentences and the words snow... eat. And he managed to say he hadn't eaten anything since December," the Daily Mail quoted policeman Nyberg as saying.

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Swede survives two months in frozen car