Amanda Smith's father chided his granddaughter about wearing socks but no shoes.

To prove his point, he lifted the blankets on the hospital bed back from the feet of his daughter, Amanda Smith. Her feet were severely frostbitten.

"You have to be so careful," said Amanda Smith, 32. "You need to be dressed warm."

She wore a pair of slip-on sandals the night she nearly froze to death. She's at St. Alexius Medical Center, recovering from hypothermia and frostbite, which resulted in the amputation of her legs and fingers.

Amanda Smith's life changed in the early morning of Jan. 24. Her father found her unconscious outside her Bismarck house. She had hypothermia and frostbite after nearly five hours in below-freezing temperatures that likely dipped below zero

She remembers coming home after an evening with her sister. She tried the front door, then the back door and then a side door. All were frozen shut. She tried the doors again, hoping someone would hear her to let her inside.

She fell and lost her sandals on the way to the back door. Shoeless, she tried the front door again, and that was the fall that nearly killed her.

Her memory of what happened is mostly pieced together by her family. Her cell phone showed outgoing phone calls started at 1 a.m. Her father found her at 6:30 a.m.

Her heart had stopped, and her body temperature reached a low of 80 degrees. Doctors opened her chest, to get her heart warm and to start blood circulation. Doctors told her parents, Jeff and Joan Smith, that she might not make it. Her mother told them they were wrong. Four days later, she regained consciousness.

"It took a while for them to decide if there was enough damage" to amputate, Amanda Smith said.

Both legs are amputated mid-thigh, and nine of her fingers are amputated at the palms. Part of her left thumb was not amputated.

"It really is weird," she said.

She uses a pencil to push buttons on her cell phone and TV remote. Other people must help her do everyday tasks like getting something to drink or taking a bath. She will eventually be fitted for prosthetics. First, her limbs must heal.

"When it comes to dressing changes, it's a screaming party," she said. "It's horrifying."

The mother of two is grateful that she did not lose her arms.

"I said to her, 'Aiyana, you know I'm not afraid of losing my hands; they saved the parts that get to hug you,'" she said. "I'm excited to get to do that."

Her family is a big support. Both her parents see her daily. Her daughters, Aiyana, who will be 13 later this month, and Bailey, 10, are adjusting to their mother's situation. Her younger daughter visits her daily, while her older daughter visits between figure skating competitions.

"Aiyana is taking it a little harder; however she is coming around," smith said. "She still gets really sad and scared. She's afraid of losing me because she lost her dad." Aiyana's father died when she was six months old.

Smith, who is a certified nursing assistant, is concerned about her ability to perform her job after she recovers from this. Some members of the community have come forward to help Smith. A benefit fund was recently established at Northland Financial Bank. Donations can be sent to Northland Financial, north branch; 1313 Skyline Boulevard, Bismarck, N.D. 58503; care of Amanda Smith Benefit Fund.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)