Frigid September experience remains bad memory

The will to survive is what kept Virgie Heath going for up to three hours one September morning as she struggled to stay warm while trapped in a school walk-in freezer.

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Although the thought of death crossed her mind, Heath said she was determined she wouldn't die in the freezer in the basement of the Washington Educational Services Building in Brainerd. Her husband, Daniel, and their three adult children, ran through her mind.

Heath will never forget Sept. 6. It was the second day of school in the Brainerd School District. She left her home in Merrifield at 6:30 a.m. and before she got out of her driveway she turned back to grab her light fall coat. Heath, a cook manager with the school district, planned to take inventory on the food leftover from the summer Fun 'N' Friends program. She grabbed the coat to wear while she checked the freezer inventory.

Virgie Heath, a cook manager in the Brainerd School District, became emotional last week as she talked about being locked within a walk-in freezer on Sept. 6 at the Washington Educational Services Building in Brainerd. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.

It was about 6:40 a.m. when Heath said she went into the "L"-shaped walk-in freezer. Heath said she believes the temperature in the freezer was 10 below. School officials have said the temperature was zero. She had her light fall coat, heavy gloves, a clipboard, a pencil and a food push cart with her. And then she shut the door.

"As soon as I shut the door, I knew I was locked in," said Heath. "Last spring there was a safety meeting for all the cook managers and I remember someone saying that the freezer handle needed to be fixed."

Heath said the first thought that entered her mind was will Ed Jackson, the school district's building engineer, stop by. Jackson often popped in to see Heath.

"That's all I could think about," said Heath. "I began to panic. I didn't know how long I was going to be in there. For the first half-hour I constantly kicked and pounded on the door. I tried to move the (plunger) handle to get it to open but it wouldn't open the latch. My adrenaline was just a going and it kept me warm.

"The entire time I was in there I kept pounding on the door. I knew that if I even stopped for a half-minute that I wouldn't make it out."

Heath said she was afraid that if she'd stop pounding the door it could be when Jackson would be in the kitchen and then he wouldn't hear her. Heath was the only person in the basement.

After Heath settled down from the initial shock of being locked in the freezer she said she began to grow cold. She knew that cardboard is an insulator so she found a box and put it in front of the door. She sat inside the box in a ball while continuing to pound on the door.

Brainerd School District employees Virgie Heath, a cook manager, and Ed Jackson, a building engineer, last week stood in front of the walk-in freezer that Heath got locked into on Sept. 6 at the Washington Educational Services Building. Jackson is the one who saved Heath from the freezer. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.

"I was getting colder and colder so I got out of the box and emptied more boxes of food," said Heath. "I ripped up the boxes and tucked pieces around me to help me stay warm.

"I still was so cold so I took the plastic out of the boxes and wrapped it around my feet and legs since they were the coldest. I later put plastic over my jacket and over my head. The freezer gloves didn't keep my hands warm enough so I'd put my fingers under my armpits at times to try to warm them up."

Heath said she didn't wear her watch so she had no clue how long she was inside the freezer. She said her cell phone was in her office so she couldn't call for help.

"I was hoping to be found soon because I had to be at St. Francis School by 9:30 a.m. to make lunch for the students there and people there would be wondering where I was," said Heath. "I just kept pounding and screaming hoping Ed would find me soon.

"I got to the point where I looked at the clipboard and thought about writing a goodbye to my family. But I thought if I did that I'd be giving up so I didn't write the letter. I kept telling myself that I can't die in this freezer."

Heath said she was getting weaker and weaker and she wasn't able to pound on the door as hard.

"I didn't think I'd be able to hold on much longer," said Heath.

Heath said her angel arrived around 9:40 a.m. Jackson was in the basement hallway getting chemicals in the storage room when he heard a noise. He knew Heath was still at the school because he saw her car parked outside. He walked into the kitchen to find Heath and to find out what the noise was.

"I followed the noise to the walk-in freezer and opened it," said Jackson. "There she was. She rolled out of the freezer and she was very weak.

"I was concerned about her, but she didn't want to go to the hospital. She appeared OK."

Heath said when the door opened she thought she was dreaming.

"I couldn't stand up right away," she said. "Ed helped me get out of the plastic and cardboard and I cried on his shoulders. I thanked God and him for finding me."

Heath said she should have gone to the hospital. "But all I could think about was the kids at St. Francis."

Heath pulled herself together and went to St. Francis. The principal asked her if she was OK because she didn't look well.

"I just said that I was having a bad morning," said Heath. "I finished serving lunch ... I was there, but not mentally. I was still in shock. It took me until about 1:30 p.m. to get my color back."

Heath went back to work the next day, but she wasn't able to talk to others about her experience. Jackson did, however, report the accident the day it happened.

"I wasn't ready to talk to anyone about it yet," said Heath. "I went to work because I felt I had to, but I wasn't able to get out of my office at Washington."

Heath did go to the doctor and was surprised she didn't have frostbite. However, mentally Heath said she was not OK. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and she has been dealing with it ever since.

"I haven't been able to be alone in a room or be in a room where the door is closed or be in any confined areas," said Heath.

"I've come a long way since the accident, but I still have a ways to go."

Heath has only been in one cooler since her traumatic experience. She blocked the door open before she went inside the freezer, a practice she now always follows.

Heath plans to go back to work Monday.

"My goal is to get back to where I was," said Heath. "I love my job."

JENNIFER STOCKINGER can be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.