College Girl Passes Out In Snow, Might Need Her Hands Amputated And OMFG I Dread The Teenage Years

shutterstock_166788005When I tell you that I dread the days when my children become teenagers, it is the understatement of my life.  My daughter is already a handful at two-and-a-half.  She reminds me a lot of me.  Which makes me think about all the crap I did as a teenager I snuck out, I talked back, I renegotiated my punishments.  Yes, I was on the lawyer track well before law school because when I was 16 I cut a deal with my parents.  I came home past my curfew one night so they told me I was not allowed to go out the next night (it was summer).  I reasoned with them that one night out was approximately four hours so instead of not going out for one night, I agreed to come home one hour earlier for the next four nights.  They agreed.  My parents were never strict and that was one of the only times I was ever ”grounded,” but even that didn’t stick.  And then college.  I honestly can’t even get into all the stupid things I did in college.  In New England, it’s a wonder this wasn’t one of them: passing out in the snow like a 19-year-old in Minnesota did this weekend.

She was dropped off by her friends in front of her house, but Alyssa Jo Lommel never made it inside.  Her tracks showed she went to the house next door, wandered down to a dead-end and ultimately passed out on a porch.  Her hands were exposed overnight where the temperature dropped to -17 degrees, -36 degrees with the wind chill.  According to the NY Daily News:

She was wearing just blue jeans, Ugg boots, a sweater and light jacket. But she had on no gloves when a passerby found her around 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

Her hands were three times their normal size ”” and may have to be amputated due to the severe frostbite and hypothermic conditions she endured.

The college sophomore was nearly frozen to death, police said in a report.

The hospital staff who treated her said she “could lose one or both of her hands.”  Her mother says it’s a waiting game at this point.  ”It’s going to take some time to determine what’s going to happen. We are hopeful that her body will heal itself.”

I have no idea why she was alone after reportedly drinking for six hours, but her last communication was through Twitter.

Alyssa Jo Lommel reportedly sent this tweet the day before she was found nearly frozen to death on a neighbor’s porch while enduring subzero temperatures.

This just makes me want to cry.  In the age of cellphones and constant social media updates, no one was with her or thought to look for her.  A passerby found her at 9:30am the next day.  I don’t even know what to say about this awful story.  College kids do crazy things, and I think nine times out of 10 they end up fine.  But this one incident might leave this girl with no hands.

Someone remind me to follow my kids on Twitter so that when I see a tweet like this I will get in my car and drive to make sure she’s properly at home, on her stomach with her puke bucket underneath her.  I just hope they end up at college within driving distance.

(photo: cpphotoimages/Shutterstock)

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