Doctors have upgraded the condition of a University of Minnesota Duluth student found unconscious in subzero cold earlier this month. Hospital officials tell WDIO-TV Tuesday that Alyssa Jo Lommel has been upgraded from critical to serious condition. The Duluth News Tribune says family members continued to report signs of progress on Lommel’s CaringBridge website. She is now breathing without the aid of a ventilator. The CaringBridge page also reports that doctors "are getting close to being ready to start doing" some amputations.

Police say Lommel, a sophomore from St. Cloud, had been out drinking with friends December 6 and was dropped off at her Duluth house around midnight. A passer-by spotted Lommel on the front stoop of the house next door about nine hours later. She suffered severe hypothermia.

A fund has been set up at Bremer Bank to assist with medical costs for Lommel and her family.