Braving the wrath of the most menacing blizzard Buffalo, New York has seen in years, one man emerged a hero, drawing twenty-four souls from the icy jaws of death.
Jay Withey, a 27-year-old local, didn’t let the snowstorm’s relentless onslaught shake his resolve to save himself and others from becoming snow-bound casualties.
Facing an unprecedented snowstorm, with over fifty inches of snow battering Buffalo, Withey found himself stuck in his truck with no hope of escape. With the chilling cold biting through his skin and no shelter in sight, he was forced into a desperate situation. The situation went from bad to worse when his truck, his only source of heat amidst the harsh blizzard, ran out of gas. However, it was not just his life at stake.
Refusing to let the icy death claim him, Withey recognized that he was not the only one stranded in this snowy nightmare. Discovering others in the same plight, he forged a survival plan, the outcome of which was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. The initiative undertaken by Withey, now endearingly known as “Merry Christmas Jay,” rescued twenty-four people, including seven elderly individuals, from the fierce storm.
With his survival plan in motion, Withey and his fellow survivors managed to take refuge in a nearby school. The group braced themselves against the frigid temperatures, awaiting the storm’s end within the school’s relatively warmer confines. This brave act earned Withey his festive nickname and cemented his hero status among those he saved.
Sharing his ordeal with WBEN, Withey recalled, “I walked to the houses to see if I could find shelter, any house that had lights on. I had $500 that I was offering to sleep on their floor.” He confessed that this was the first time in his life when death felt imminent.
His truck finally sputtered to a stop on Christmas Eve at the ungodly hour of 6 am. The lack of fuel left him and his fellow survivors with no choice but to breach the Pine Hill Primary Center, a children’s educational institute.
According to Withey, he realized, “Off to the left, I could see there was a school about 600-700 feet away from us. I knew the power would be on, there would be heat in there, and I was guaranteeing there would be food in there.”
Cheektowaga Police Department acknowledged that Withey and the rest of the group set up a makeshift camp within the school cafeteria. Though they broke into the school, they respected the premises, only helping themselves to the school’s food supplies to survive as the snowstorm raged outside.
As the blizzard subsided on Christmas Day, Withey ingeniously utilized the school’s snowblower to clear a path through the snow, allowing the survivors to return home. Before departing from the school, he repaired the broken window with cardboard and duct tape and left behind a note elucidating the circumstances of their break-in: “I had to do it to save everyone and get them shelter and food and a bathroom. Merry Christmas, Jay.”
The authorities recognized Withey’s “heroic actions” via a tweet, paying tribute to his swift thinking and courage, which ultimately saved twenty-four lives during the severe Buffalo blizzard. His story serves as a shining example of human resilience and compassion in the face of life-threatening adversity.
WATCH the video below for more details:
Source: AWM
