South Pole evacuee recovering well after stroke

BALTIMORE - The New Hampshire woman who suffered a stroke and had to be rescued from a South Pole research station is now back on U.S. soil and receiving treatment at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore.  While Renee-Nicole Douceur may have to wait a while to take her next adventure, her doctor says she is recovering well. 

“Her speech has improved dramatically,” said Dr. Paul Nyquist. 

Douceur, too, is optimistic, especially about her sight returning to normal, “The prognosis is good that I'll probably recover… especially if I can drive,” she joked, looking slyly at Dr. Nyquist during a moment of levity; a moment that stands in stark contrast with the bleakness and uncertainty of her time spent in limbo in Antarctica. 

A station manager at the National Science Foundation's research station on the South Pole, Douceur suddenly developed the telltale signs of a stroke: vision, language, and memory problems. 

Because of the weather and remoteness of the station's location, she had to wait for two months for the next cargo plane to arrive and take her back to civilization. 

Despite all she has been through, the 58-year-old nuclear engineer from Seabrook, New Hampshire says she would like to return to Antarctica, but it's a return journey that may have to be put on hold for now. 

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