80-Year-Old Man Walks through a Blizzard to Rescue People from Three Cars

This 80-year-old man from Canada helped guide several cars to safety during a strong snowstorm as an act of kindness which the drivers describe as an act of heroism. 

Shannon St. Onge was coming back from what he thought would be a quick trip to her office on January 31st when a blizzard hit the region, much earlier than it was predicted.

Suddenly, she was in a rural area and everything was white, the visibility was zero. The roads and highways were full of snow and ice.

The Stuck Cars Drive to Safety Thanks to this 80-Year-Old Man 

Onge explained that she found out later that they call this storm a Saskatchewan screamer storm. 

It comes on pretty fast and the winds are high and extreme. 

She tried to call 911, but couldn’t get them. The first responders got a lot of calls and she got a message back saying: “we can’t take your call at this time”. 

This is when she started to worry and panic. She thought she would get hit by another car behind or get stuck in a snowdrift or a snowbank. She was so nervous that she wouldn’t be able to get to her kids at home.

She then shared a message on a page of her community on Facebook and says what happened next was what saved her. 

The SOS Reaches the 80-Year-Old Bouvier Who Helps Them Out 

Her SOS reached Andre Bouvier Sr., a retiree who did the rescue and lived on a farm that’s close by. 

For Onge, he’s her hero. 

According to Bouvier, this was the worst storm he’s ever seen. He couldn’t see anything, despite the flashlight. As he walked, he protected his face with his mittens from the snow that was blowing. 

He tried to keep calm as he trudged from the farm to the road in this hazardous condition, all with the effort to find the motorists that were stranded there.

Onge was in the path of oncoming traffic when he came and another car was running low on fuel.

The 80-year-old, hailed a hero by the motorists, says that any of his neighbors would’ve offered similar assistance. He jokes that he feels much younger than he really is. He feels like he’s 40 and 60!

For him, life is what you make out of it and when you’re able to help others, it’s a joyful feeling. According to Onge, Bouvier’s actions led to the formation of a lifelong friendship. They’ve already made plans to reunite, as long as the forecast says clear weather!

Sources:

USA TODAY

CBC