Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 4, 1994 TAG: 9401040127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CASTRO VALLEY, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Then, they and their infant son got lost in the Nevada desert in a howling snowstorm for eight days. Stolpa walked 50 miles in deep snow to find help. He and his wife lost all their toes to frostbite.
Now, after 12 months of surgery and negotiations over a TV movie, they hope to get on with their lives.
"We've just been at a standstill," Jennifer Stolpa said in an interview at the family's modest apartment in the east San Francisco Bay area. "We're both really anxious and hopeful that once the movie airs, we'll just kind of have that part of our lives over with and we can just go on."
The CBS-TV movie, "Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story," airs Sunday night. Their deal for the movie is rumored at $500,000.
The movie retells the tale that began Dec. 29, 1992, when the Stolpas set out for a family funeral in Idaho.
Snow blocked the main east-west roads through the Sierra Nevada so they swung north on a little-used road. Eventually, they turned onto an unmaintained gravel road in northwestern Nevada. Their truck became stuck, and they were lost.
After a night in the truck, the two set out for help, carrying Clayton, then 4 months old.
Concern for Clayton kept them going. So did the meals they fantasized about ordering at a restaurant they believed lay just ahead. Thirst became the biggest problem as the dry, powdery snow failed to satisfy.
Seventeen miles later, Clayton and his mother took shelter in a small cave while Jim Stolpa went for help. He walked more than 50 miles before finding a highway worker.
After a series of operations, the Stolpas now walk well enough to fool the casual observer, but the disability still gives them trouble.
"We'd give it all back to turn the clock back a year and a day and make a few different decisions," said Jim Stolpa, 22. Both are unemployed.
Jim Stolpa got a medical discharge from the Army, leaving him "anxious to do something."
Despite their financial windfall, they still live frugally, indulging only in a van and some toys for Clayton.
One thing that hasn't changed is how they feel about each other.
A year ago, Jennifer Stolpa recalled, "we were really poor. We lived paycheck to paycheck. Our car wasn't running very well. We were struggling, definitely, but it never put a strain on our relationship."
Eight days of relying on their wits and each other through bitter adversity strengthened that bond, she said.
"What this did for us is just prove that we would do anything for each other."
by CNB