Okanagan woman dies weeks after dramatic rescue from snowy embankment

A Vernon, B.C., woman who was rescued in early December after spending hours down a snowy embankment has died from complications related to the accident.

Caroline Koenig had been driving on Highway 6 near Cherryville when her SUV went off the road on Dec. 4. After she opened the car door, she fell down an embankment and stayed for hours in the snow.

In the meantime, her husband Trevor Koenig, who had grown worried about her absence, started searching for her.

Three hours later, he found her car on the side of the road and traced her tracks down to the embankment. He climbed down to her, staying and talking with her for nearly five hours before search and rescue volunteers arrived.

Rescuers were able to carry Koenig to safety using a complex rope-line rescue, and she was taken to hospital, where she received surgery for a broken arm.

At the time of her rescue, rescuers described her as being very cold but in "remarkable shape ... considering what she'd gone through."

On Tuesday, Trevor Koenig wrote in a Facebook post that his wife had passed away on Dec. 22 from complications related to the accident.

"I waited to post this until after the holiday season as Caroline would have wanted it that way," Koenig said, describing her as his partner in life and business for the last 36 years.

"Caroline was a warm, caring and loving lady and she will be sorely missed by all who knew her."

An obituary on the Pleasant Valley Funeral Home's website says a memorial service will be held on Jan. 20.

With files from Megan Batchelor