A photographer was being credited with saving the life of a missing 74-year-old woman who was found frozen to the ground after an ice storm in Franklin, Tennessee.
Keith Sheldon works for Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, but his true passion in life is photography.
Last Friday, Sheldon took the day off to take pictures of the ice and snow in Franklin. As he went to leave, he realized the road was too icy and turned around.
As he turned around, he noticed a gray Lexus stuck in a ditch.
Sheldon started taking pictures of the car, thinking it might belong to someone at a nearby church.
“As I was taking my third photo is when I noticed the lady in front of the car,” Sheldon said.
Not knowing if she was dead or alive, Sheldon called out to the woman. She was unresponsive.
“I walked over to her and when I got next to her, she opened her eyes,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon didn’t know how long the woman had been there. It was 15 degrees outside at the time.
Once paramedics arrived, they realized she was frozen to the ground.
“We lifted her up off the ground and you could hear it breaking between her body and the ground,” Sheldon said.
It turned out 74-year-old Patricia had been reported missing by her family two days earlier. According to the missing person’s report, she has several brain injuries from horseback riding.
The woman reportedly told her family she was heading to Winner’s Circle Farms in Franklin, but never made it there.
“Part of me wonders if I hadn’t come up, I don’t know how long anyone could live in that weather,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon said he feels fortunate he just happened to be there taking pictures that day.
“I was sent there for a reason, I think, and I’m glad for it,” he said.
CNN and WSMV contributed to this story.