NEW YORK — A man in Buffalo has sustained severe frostbite but is alive thanks to multiple good Samaritans who rescued him from the cold as the city was hit with a deadly winter storm over the Christmas weekend.
Now recovering in the ICU from fourth-degree frostbite, 64-year-old Joe White was saved on Christmas Eve Saturday by Sha’Kyra Aughtry and her boyfriend, Trent, after they heard him calling for help, according to a Facebook livestream Aughtry did, CNN reports.
Though she doesn’t have a background in medical care, necessity really is the mother of invention. Aughtry told those watching she had used nonmedical devices to help warm up White, who is developmentally disabled.
She utilized a blow dryer to melt the ice that was on his hands and a “grass cutter” to remove the rings he was wearing on his swelling fingers.
Noting she was “going crazy because I’m scared,” Aughtry begged anyone watching to help her ensure White would survive the terrifying ordeal.
“I’ve called the National Guard. I’ve called 911. I’ve called everybody — they just keep telling me I’m on a list. I don’t want to be on a list,” she said. “This man is not about to die over here.”
By Sunday night, the cavalry had arrived in the form of “some nice Samaritans that came and snowplowed us out,” Aughtry said in a subsequent livestream.
White may have mistakenly believed he had to work Saturday, and got confused upon leaving the group home where he lives, his boss, Ray Barker, told CNN.
North Park Theatre, where White has worked since 1980, is doing its part to help him and his rescuer. The historic movie theater has already raised more than $50,000 across two fundraisers, according to the outlet.
More than 30 people died in Erie County, most of them within the city of Buffalo, due to the storm that affected much of the country over the holiday weekend.
The theater did not immediately respond to the Daily News’ request for comment.
———
