A man was pulled from his snow-bound car near the Swedish town of Umeå on Friday after surviving in sub-zero temperatures. Peter Skyllberg, 44, had reportedly subsited on nothing but snow and some ointment since December 19. A nearby store-owner who knew Skyllberg said that he had been living in the woods because had forced him from town. Passing snowmobilers assumed the car was empty but saw a man wrapped in a sleeping bag in the backseat when they scrapped snow off the window. Doctors speculate that Skyllberg may have benefitted from an “igloo-effect” caused by a thick layer of snow around the vehicle. Another theory is that Skyllberg’s body temperature dropped, slowing his metabolism and allowing him to go into a state similar to hibernation. “I suppose it might have been like an igloo, which is why he has managed to get through this cold. We have had down to -30 centigrade here. It is a strange story,” said chief medical officer Dr. Ulsetts Berg of the Umeå University Hospital.
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