Erika and her
mother, 26-year-old Leyla Nordby, were spending the night of 22/23 February 2001 at a friend's home in Edmonton. The temperature outside was approximately . As the girl customarily had a
bottle around 2 am, her mother became concerned when she awoke at 3 am and Erika was not beside her in bed. Leyla found her in a snowbank shortly thereafter by following footprints leading away from the back door. She brought Erika inside and called an
ambulance, and attempted
CPR and
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but was unsuccessful. Paramedics were unable to
intubate at the scene due to Erika's condition. Erika's heart resumed beating after she was placed under a warming blanket. Doctors suggested the cold had placed her into a
hibernation-like state, protecting her body from serious damage. There were initially suggestions that parts of her hands or feet might need to be
amputated because of damage from
frostbite, but this was later considered unnecessary. Erika required
skin grafts on her foot and
physiotherapy to enable her to walk again. ==Aftermath==