The 76-year-old Bromander, who is a member of Sloan Covenant Church, had gone to her car intending to leave for an appointment, but passed out on the rocky driveway that is located behind her house. When she regained consciousness, Bromander was unable to stand.
It was 101 degrees outside. “Lying back there, in the backyard – nobody saw me,” she told the Sioux City Journal. “In that heat, I don’t know how much longer I could have survived.”
Bromander’s house is surrounded by farmland, and chances were slim that anyone would find her. However, Jeff Madsen was delivering her mail when he happened to see her out of the corner of his eye.
“I was very grateful to be in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Madsen propped Bromander up and gave her some water. An ambulance took her to Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City.
At the hospital, they measured her temperature at 104 degrees, an early sign of heatstroke, said Bromander, who has since returned home.
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