In these perilous times, people need to hear stories of miraculous deliverance. This story can help someone who has lost a job, has a deadly medical problem, and is feeling lost. This inspirational true story begins with a description how the author was a tenacious athletic competitor. Being 6'10' and successful in basketball and baseball, he endured a future NBA career ending injury. Competition was his way of life so he took up snowmobiling to sooth his competitive nature. During a snowmobiling trip with two friends above timberline in the Colorado Rockies, the author broke through ice on a pond and instantly froze his hands and legs in the -20 degree temperature. All three snowmobiles were disabled. There was three to four feet of powder snow and they did not have snowshoes. Walking in the snow was impossible. After several hours trying to get the snowmobiles out and with the wind getting stronger, the freezing cold and darkness became their nightmare. With their numb hands, they could not feel or see to work on getting the snowmobiles out. The author's skin on his arms and legs were frozen to his clothing and boots. The men knew that they were facing grim circumstances. They had to get help in a hurry; yet, they knew that it would be tomorrow morning before rescuers could come. They could not make it through the bitter cold night. The author was shaking uncontrollably and suffering from hypothermia. It was devastating for the author to face the reality of slow death. Even with help arriving, he would be lucky to survive. At best, he would lose his arms and legs. His brain was having trouble dealing with this terrible conclusion to a strong competitive life. His one friend who was the lightest in weight started crawling out. They knew of the impossibility because it was eight miles of deep snow to the parked truck. His other friend and the author dug a snow cave because inside it would not be -20 degrees, but a cozy 32 degrees. With the wind blowing, the wind chill was probably -40 degrees and deadly. In the snow cave, the author experienced many mind blowing experiences. He had "given up" and was facing nightmare after nightmare. Rescue did come in a miraculous way.
About the Author: DAVID A. SIGAFOOS, PH.D. EDUCATION: B.A., Business Education B.S., Business Management M.Ed., Education Ph.D., Computer Science EMPLOYMENT: IBM Global Services Education Technology Coordinator Championship high school basketball coach and teacher High school department chair Assist. Basketball Coach, Colorado State University PRESENT: Board of Directors, Ram Alumni Athletics, Colorado State University. Dr. Sigafoos is a master high school educator and a very well known athlete and corporate leader in the State of Colorado. His name has been attached to hundreds of articles in local and state newspapers. Sports talent was natural for Dr. Sigafoos as a six year old baseball pitcher. He lettered four years making all-conference all four years and pitched successfully against all seniors in the Colorado All-Star game as a freshman. As a junior, he pitched in the State baseball tournament. Dr. Sigafoos refused an offer to play professional baseball. Basketball was a success also. He received honors: all-conference, all-state, and Denver All-Metropolitan. He broke the Colorado State Tournament game scoring record as well as the Colorado State All-Star Game scoring record. He received 82 university scholarship offers from around the country. Dr. Sigafoos accepted a NCAA scholarship to Colorado State University where he played in the NIT Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Basketball Tournament. As a senior, he received a career ending injury and went back to school to work on his M.Ed. in order to teach and coach in high school. As a teacher in high school, Dr. Sigafoos installed the nation's first IBM PC computers at three high schools. Later, he installed the nation's first PC network in a high school. He did contract work for IBM traveling all over the country becoming known for his PC software expertise. Later, he became employed full time by IBM Global Services. Dr. Sigafoos also taught computer at the college level. A native of Colorado, Dr. Sigafoos lives in a Denver suburb with his wife Allegra Kay. Their daughter and husband have one child. When not speaking or writing, Dr. Sigafoos can be found in the Colorado high country where he is an avid fly tier and fly fisherman.