FOX40 sat down with Paula Lane, who explained how she survived for six days while stranded in the snow. Howard Coyle reports.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev.-

Paula Lane survived for six days in the snow after she and her boyfriend got lost when they took a detour to go off-roading on their way home.

Lane survived by sleeping in a hollowed out tree and eating green tomatoes. Her boyfriend, Roderick Clifton, left to get help and never came back. After a few days, Lane knew something was wrong.

“He died trying to save my life,” Lane told FOX40.

She is now safe at home in Gardnerville, Nev., recovering from severe frostbite, but it’s her broken heart that truly aches.

“I came across where where he was laying in the road. He looked peaceful,” Lane said. “I sat there for a half-hour and talked to him and thanked him for trying to save my life and told him I would make sure he wasn’t forgotten.”

Lane was found by her brother, Gary, six days after being reported missing. She and Clifton had left Clifton’s mother’s home in Citrus Heights Nov. 29.

Family and friends gathered in Citrus Heights Saturday to rememeber Roderick Clifton. Chris Biele reports.

SACRAMENTO-

The woman rescued from the Sierra has her brother to thank.

Paula Lane’s brother, Gary Lane, used a borrowed CalTrans vehicle to help in the search. He acted on a hunch that his sister and her boyfriend were in the same spot where the two had been off-roading in the past.

Brian Roth says he was with his friend Gary when they found Paula.

“We were not going to come back without her,” he said.

The area near Highways 88 and 89, where missing couple Roderick Clifton and Paula Lane were found Wednesday evening.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev.-

Paula Lane, who went missing for nearly a week with her boyfriend, survived on tomatoes and snow after the couple had gotten lost on the way home to Gardnerville, Nev., according to doctors.

Lane and her boyfriend, Roderick Clifton, got lost last week after leaving Clifton’s mother’s home in Citrus Heights Nov. 29. The couple had reportedly gone off-roading and became stuck in the snow.

Lane’s doctor told the press Thursday that Clifton was the first to try to find help. When he didn’t return, Lane took some blankets and began trudging through waist-deep snow. As it became dark, Lane slept in a hollowed out tree. She survived by eating tomatoes and snow.

The next day, Lane reportedly heard an engine sound and began yelling. It was her brother driving a tractor, Lane’s doctor said.

Clifton and Lane were found Wednesday evening, six days after leaving Citrus Heights. Clifton did not survive.

Lane is said to be doing O.K., relatively. She has some frostbite.

Lane’s sister, Linda, also addressed the media. She told reporters that she had to sit down with Lane’s 11-year-old twin sons to tell them that their mother might not be coming home. Later that night, Linda got a call that the couple had been found.

Luana Munoz contributed to this report.

Alisa Becerra has the latest details about a couple from Nevada found after spending a week in the Sierra.