For many students, winter break was spent visiting family and friends, but for one UW-Madison student, the break brought heroism.
While backpacking in New Mexico, UW-Madison junior Peter Kottke and his older brother Albert rescued a woman in the Gila National Forest who had been alone for approximately five weeks.
Carolyn Dorn, a 52-year-old from South Carolina, began a two-week camping trip Dec. 6 when she became trapped by the rising Gila River.
""We were surprised to see her,"" Peter Kottke said. ""The last two years, we've never seen anyone.""
Rescue teams searched the wilderness after finding Dorn's car, but stopped searching for her two weeks prior to her being found by the Kottkes.
""It was lucky on our part,"" Kottke said. ""We changed our plans the day before.""
Kottke added they decided to take a longer route than they originally planned.
""If we were a mile or two upstream, we would have never seen her,"" Kottke said.
According to Kottke, the brothers gave Dorn approximately two and a half pounds of food, including almonds, cheese, dried apples, an energy bar and granola.
""Our instincts took over when we realized she hadn't had food in three weeks,"" Kottke said.
After assuring Dorn was safe for a couple more nights, the brothers hiked for 20 miles and reached Silver City, N.M., where they contacted authorities. Dorn was taken to an area hospital for recovery.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
