The human body requires a stable internal temperature in order to function properly, around 37 degrees Celsius.
When the temperature drops below 35 degrees, the body enters a state of hypothermia that can be fatal.
However, a small number of exceptional cases prove that under certain conditions, humans are capable of surviving extreme drops in temperature and recovering from situations that appeared hopeless.
In one extraordinary case reported by a science publication, an adult who went on a winter activity fell through ice and remained trapped in freezing water for nearly ninety minutes.
When rescue teams arrived, the person was in a state of clinical death.
Body temperature had dropped to just 13.7 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature ever survived by an adult outside a hospital.
Rescuers inserted a breathing tube and immediately began resuscitation efforts, continuing until doctors connected the patient to a heart lung machine for several hours while gradually warming the body.
The patient spent a month on mechanical ventilation.
Blood clotting stopped, nerves were damaged, and internal organs ceased to function.
Despite this, recovery was complete. Within five months, the patient returned to work and even resumed outdoor activities.
Another extreme survival case occurred during a harsh winter in Eastern Europe.
A young child left a family home while outdoor temperatures were well below freezing.
The child was found hours later unconscious, with a body so rigid that rescuers could not insert a breathing tube.
Body temperature dropped to 11.8 degrees Celsius.
Against all odds, the child fully recovered and was released from the hospital after two months.
How did these individuals survive when many others did not in less extreme conditions.
Researchers believe the answer lies in a combination of factors.
Under normal conditions, the brain requires a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients.
When body temperature drops significantly, this demand decreases dramatically.
Extremely low temperatures slow vital neural activity, but at the same time slow the processes that cause cell death and tissue damage.
In the adult case, an additional factor played a critical role.
The person was trapped in an air pocket beneath the ice, allowing continued breathing while surrounding water gradually froze the body.
This enabled the brain to reach an unusually low temperature at which it no longer required normal metabolic resources to function.
The medical community has long recognized the protective potential of low body temperatures. Surgeons sometimes intentionally lower a patient’s core temperature during complex brain or heart surgeries to protect vital organs.
In open heart procedures, for example, the heart is filled with a special solution that temporarily stops its beating and cools it, allowing surgeons to operate while an external machine maintains blood circulation.
The lowest body temperature recorded in therapeutic hypothermia with full brain recovery was 4.2 degrees Celsius, documented in a historical medical case decades ago.
Today, modern medicine is more cautious.
Doctors understand that lowering body temperature is a double edged sword, and newer techniques aim to reduce the need for cooling in order to avoid dangerous side effects such as increased infection risk, blood clotting problems, and kidney damage.
Thousands of people have died over the years from hypothermia in extreme cold conditions.
Survival stories like these are rare, and the chances of recovery are extremely low.
Ultimately, the best way to deal with extreme cold is to avoid it altogether.