Hiker: Wrong Turn Cost Wife Her Life

BOSTON -- It began as a weekend hike in New Hampshire's White Mountains and ended as a life-and-death tragedy.

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Jim Boyd Reports On Recovery

NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that 10 days ago, Russell Cox, of Andover, Mass., survived two sub-zero nights on Mount Lafayette, but despite heroic rescue efforts, his wife, Brenda, did not.

From his Massachusetts General Hospital bed, Cox talked about the ordeal for the first time Monday.

With advanced frostbite on both of his feet, Cox is still not able to stand, and is also suffering from frostbite on his fingertips.

Cox said that the pair set out March 21 on a roughly 10-mile loop over three different peaks, but a sudden change in the weather forced the couple to turn back.

"As we continued down off the summit, it became more and more difficult to see the rock piles, the trail markers, because the snow was picking up and the wind was just making it very difficult to see," said Cox.

After a wrong turn, Cox said, they became lost, and were forced to spend two nights on the summit.

Search teams scoured the mountain looking for the couple, but by the time a helicopter reached them last Tuesday, Cox said, he knew was already too late for his wife.

"I knew that Brenda could not make it through the night -- I started to stand up and walk around. My feet were numb. I became nauseous from the walk. At that point, I realized I was not going to be able to walk out either," he said.

Cox was airlifted from New Hampshire to Massachusetts General Hospital after his rescue.

"I'm very happy to be alive. I miss Brenda with all my heart. I'm glad that she lived the active life that she lived -- and that she died doing what she loved," he said.

Funeral services for Brenda Cox are planned for midweek. Doctors say it will be another 10 days to two weeks before Cox will be released from the hospital.