This guy is an absolute, unqualified hero:
As a deadly and historic blizzard barreled through Erie County, New York, last weekend, some residents found themselves in a dire scenario – stranded in howling snow with nowhere to go, their cars dwindling in gas supply with police unable to come to the rescue.
Among those trapped last Friday was Jay Withey, a mechanic in the town of Cheektowaga who had ventured out to help a trapped friend, but instead got caught in the snow himself. Over the course of the night, he would be turned away by several people he begged for help, eventually committing a final act of desperation to save himself and at least 10 others from the brutal storm.
It was even more desperate than that makes it sound.
Withey went out in his truck to try and rescue a friend stuck in the storm; along the way he picked up a fellow who was walking in "sneakers" and a "light jacket." His truck got stuck in the snow; the cops said they couldn't make it out due to the blizzard.
Incredibly, multiple people refused to allow Withey and his passenger to sleep on their floors overnight, even after he offered them $500.
Eventually, an elderly woman, Mary, asked to join him in the truck after eight hours spent in her own car.
Eventually, Mary needed to use the bathroom. It was then that Withey, sensing she felt embarrassed, looked at his phone's GPS and noticed that a school – EDGE Academy – was nearby, he said.
"I say, ‘I'm going to that school, and I'm going to break into that school, because I know they have heat and a bathroom,'" he said.
Withey is a mechanic, so of course he had an extra set of brake pads lying around. He used that to break into the school, leading his two charges with him.
But he wasn't done yet:
"I walk outside in the immediate area and there are a lot of older people that are stranded in their cars," Withey said. "One person had a dog, and I get them all into the school. At this point, I have about 10 people in the school." He estimated their ages ranged between 20s and 70s.
With the group settled in the school, Withey scavenged for cereal and apples in the cafeteria, managed to turn off the alarm, and found mats in the gym for everyone to sleep on.
"Everyone is just so happy to be in the school and to be warm and have food," he said.
Lives saved. No jokes, no gimmicks. Most or all of those people may have been dead without Withey's quick thinking.
Here's some shots of the group coming out of the cold:
Withey wasn't just a hero. He was also polite, as evidenced by this note he left at the school:
To whomever it may concern, I'm terribly sorry about breaking the school window & for breaking in the kitchen. Got stuck at 8pm Friday and slept in my truck with two strangers just trying not to die. There were 7 elderly people also stuck and out of fuel. I had to do it to save everyone and get them shelter and food and a bathroom. Merry Christmas. Jay.
Here's a self-portrait of the crew, with their hero mechanic at the center:
As CNN reports:
Withey, who describes himself as a religious man, said he views the whole ordeal as a blessing in disguise. If just one person took him up on his plea for shelter that night, he would not have saved all those people, he said.
