Meet the good Samaritan who saved the life of a developmentally disabled man caught in blizzard

a story of extraordinary heroism from a massive snowstorm that slammed Buffalo New York a year ago on Christmas Eve a woman noticed a man struggling in the blizzard outside her window and brought the stranger to safety inside that was just the beginning our lead National correspondent David begno traveled to Buffalo to meet the woman and learned how her life-saving acts of kindness created lasting connections this is the first time that he Von white is going to see the home where her brother was treated like family Hi how are you by a woman who rescued him put it in perspective you saved his life you saved another human being's life during the blizzard of December 2022 in Buffalo New York shakyra arrey took action when a lot of other people would have been a lot less willing what you did was just beautiful just beautiful I just did but you know he made him comfortable he felt the love he was at my door banging when I woke up um I Heard help help it was Christmas Eve a year ago shakyra looked out her window and saw that man struggling in the snow he keeps screaming hope I don't know what to do I feel so terrible it was 4° outside you can't even walk like the the wind is so bad the wind was gusting 53 mph he had no gloves on looked lost and in pain shakyra and her boyfriend Trent s Jr took him in 65-year-old Joey white has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old child according to his sister he lived in his group home at the time it's just a few blocks away from Shaky's home that morning Joey left home headed for a movie theater where he had worked as a custodian for more than 40 years it's unclear how long he had lingered in the cold he was so Frozen his clothing was completely froze what were his fingers like they were in it was bed up with the bag in his hand I told him I walked him through I said I have to cut the bag because the bag was froze he had ice literally ice balls around his hand after bandaging his severely frostbitten hands shakyra called 911 again and again but the weather conditions made it impossible for First Responders to reach them was waiting for the National Guards and I still was waiting for 911 paramedics fire I was waiting for anybody and nobody ever came as the hours pass the snow just kept piling up so Joey spent Christmas with shakyra Trent and their kids she did his laundry fed him even played movies for him we got to get some help all the while his hands were literally changing color and the pain was becoming unbearable I was thinking if there's going to take this long to come and get him and he's alive how long is it going to take him to come and get a dead body if he was to pass I couldn't wrap my head around I I just couldn't do it this young man's fingers is going to fall off on Christmas night she turned to social media panicking I had to use these to cut the ring off of his finger I'm not no Sergeant I'm I'm right here Joe about 36 hours after their ordeal began I think these men for helping two Good Samaritans answered her plea yeah we all love you we right here with you you hear me cuz what you tell me I'm your friend right we're friends right we're friends forever and drove them to the hospital when I got in the truck I he told me he was scared and I said I'm scared too I I'm scared too Joey and I said you know we got help we're going to go the doctors are going to take care of you and then when he told me he loved me I knew I knew he really felt safe this man could have died 64 years old could have died outside I wasn't letting that happen on my watch and he wasn't going to die in front of my kids what do you think the takeaway is I feel that especially nowadays the way our country is everything is just you know the weather is terrible this is terrible and then to see the compassion and the love with two strangers yeah is is just amazing so you tell me where the connection is it's here it's it's it's not here it's we got him to the emergeny room in the spirit of that first Christmas more than 2,000 years ago shakyra arrey made room in her home and in her heart for that Stranger in me I'm right here when you think back on it all mhm what makes you emotional I know we needed help and I just kept thinking about what if it was my family member Christmas wasn't even about gifts about my kids it wasn't it was literally him Christmas was him he was a very good Christmas gift and now for the rest of my life I will remember him what would you say to people watching this who will encounter something down the road people should be kind be loving we'll take a lesson from you so thank you you're welcome I love that lady so here is the update a year later Joey white lost almost all of his fingers there's really only a half a thumb left shakyra says he's lost all of his independence because he doesn't have Prosthetics yet but the state assures us that Joey is going to get Prosthetics this year now as for shakyra she visits him regularly I mean all the time he called her recently and said shakar I want some Chinese food and so she brought it to him she says Joey calls her all the time they have a bond that is truly special as for her New York's Governor honored her for her heroic actions her family was surprised with a trip to Disney the NFL gave them tickets to the Super Bowl and most recently she bought a home there was a lot of money donated to shakyra and her partner Trent after what they did for Joey white we always say this David and you highlight this in your story so well uh good things happen to people who do good things well and she wasn't looking for any of those accolades right she just did it out of the goodness of her heart yeah it's often times I mean she was probably thinking safety but safety for him and and me and my family welcome welcoming someone into your home is really special yeah you never know so sure they'll be fun for life now absolutely David uh thank you very much my friend Happy New Year we'll look for your stories again in 2024

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 491,356

Keywords: video, cbs, news, buffalo, new york, blizzard, christmas eve, rescue, disabled, david begnaud

Id: NWuf5FX-hjQ

Length: 6min 46sec (406 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 29 2023