MINNEAPOLIS - An 18-year-old Fargo college student who was lost outside for about three hours in sub-zero temperatures after leaving a New Year's Eve party has been upgraded from serious to satisfactory condition at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Jacob Eichelberger, a freshman at North Dakota State University, wrote on his CaringBridge Web site that the tip of his big toe on his right foot may have to be amputated. He's not expected to lose his feet as doctors initially feared.
Eichelberger wasn't wearing his jacket or shoes when he was found, and police have asked for the public's help in finding the items.
His family began searching for him when he called his mother about 1:30 a.m. Friday in a disoriented state. He was found after someone called police at 3:51 a.m. to report a male screaming and pounding on the front door of Calvary United Methodist Church in south Fargo.
Police say Eichelberger had been drinking, and they're investigating who supplied him with alcohol.
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His mother said Monday that doctors told her that her son may have shed his shoes and jacket because hypothermia made him feel hot.
The phenomenon, called paradoxical undressing, occurs as the body moves from moderate to severe hypothermia, said Dr. Tony Hamilton, an emergency room physician at Innovis Health in Fargo.
"They're so out of it, they don't realize that that's a problem," he said.
Mike Nowatzki is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.
