MASON COUNTY, Mich. — A Norton Shores woman survived a harrowing ordeal in early April after becoming stranded in the Manistee National Forest for three days.
Nancy Bloomquist was found alive after her car caught fire and she spent days in 20-degree weather with freezing rain, unable to call for help.
"My feet are still numb, very numb from the cold," Bloomquist said.
On Thursday, April 4, Bloomquist drove her brand new GMC Terrain north to the Little River Casino in Manistee. What started as a routine gambling trip quickly turned into a fight for survival.
"I got to the casino probably at about 11. And I got a text from my grandson, and he asked me if I could take him to get a haircut before they left from spring break," Bloomquist said.
When she left that same afternoon, she texted her grandson that she was on her way home, but after missing a turn, she ended up on a dirt road in the Manistee National Forest.
"I was on a paved road and it turned to dirt and I stayed on it, and it went into the woods with no warning," Bloomquist recalled. "My car got stuck and it caught fire when I was trying to backup."
Unable to grab her phone from the burning vehicle, Bloomquist began searching for help in the dense forest.
"Trying to step over all these fallen down branches I tripped and fell and so I just stayed there. I got up again and tried to go around the tree in the other direction and I fell again and I was tired of falling," Bloomquist explained.
She remained on the ground through freezing rain and temperatures that dropped to 20 degrees.
"I lost track of days after day number two," Bloomquist admitted. "I was really hungry and I even thought about eating the leaves until I realized animals have probably peed on these leaves and that stopped me from eating them."
For three days, she lay alone on the forest floor, with her calls for help to nearby hunters going unanswered.
"I even called out, 'hey over there! I'm over here!' Nobody came," Bloomquist said.
Despite her dire situation, Bloomquist maintained hope throughout the ordeal.
"I thought I was cold and I needed to get place warm, but I never thought I was going to die," Bloomquist said.
On the afternoon of Sunday, April 6, police located Bloomquist using a drone, which captured an image of a person lying next to downed trees.
"When I did get found I see this big guy in black. Must've been a policeman. And he says 'here she is and she's alive!' and I thought to myself, 'of course I'm alive, dummy. What do you think?'" Bloomquist laughed.
Bloomquist spent the next three weeks in the hospital, where doctors informed her she had suffered a stroke.
She says despite all the adversity, her grandson — and the promise she was supposed to keep to him — is what helped her push through.
"I never worried about nobody finding me, I was worried I wasn't going to get home in time to get my grandson a haircut," Bloomquist said.
Bloomquist is now hoping to get a new car so she can finally take her grandson for that haircut. She's also looking forward to taking a cruise later this year.
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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