NORWOOD YOUNG AMERICA, Minn. — In rural Norwood Young America neighbors are few and far between.
So, when Ann Fitz fell Tuesday afternoon, no one knew.
“She was heading to get the mail and she slipped on some ice and fell,” daughter Barb Fitz says.
The fall had broken her knee and she couldn’t get up.
"Several cars had gone by her, all day long, and hadn't seen her," Fitz says.
For three long hours Ann laid there in the cold, wondering if she’d ever be found.
"It was getting nightfall, the temps would drop, and no one would find her," Fitz says.
Then finally, someone stopped.
A couple driving by saw Ann in the ditch and called 911.
Fire Chief Steve Zumberge was the first one there.
“I got the call about an elderly lady in the cold for three hours and I thought we gotta get out there fast,” Zumberge says.
When he got to the scene he says two people were already there warming Ann with blankets.
He says no doubt about it, she's alive because of them.
"She never would have survived the night," Zumberge says. "Someone was looking out for her.”
Paramedics rushed Ann to the hospital where doctors diagnosed her with hypothermia and a broken knee.
Barb and her dad got to the hospital a few minutes later.
“We knew something was wrong, because we called the house several times and no one answered,” Fitz says. “We called the ER and heard she was there.”
They later heard about the two good Samaritans who stepped in and saved her.
"In my eyes they got sent down that road for a reason," Fitz says.
The only reason they were on the road is because they had missed their turn.
Being on a strange road the couple was driving slowly and by chance noticed Ann in the ditch.
"To me, they're a couple of angels sent down that road. In my heart I think they're heroes,” Fitz says.
The family says Ann is scheduled to get out of the hospital on Monday.
Earlier in the week she got to meet the good Samaritans who saved her.
They're happy she's doing better but both have decided to stay anonymous.