Buffalo woman uses Facebook livestream to rescue man caught outside during snowstorm
Mother of three Sha'Kyra Aughtry was at home with her man in the early hours of Christmas Eve when she heard screaming for help.
A Buffalo woman is credited with saving a man’s life, using a Facebook livestream to get him to the hospital after rescuing him from a snowstorm.
According to CNN, Sha’Kyra Aughtry, a mother of three, was at home with her boyfriend, Trent, during the blinding blizzard in the early hours of Christmas Eve when she heard someone screaming on her street.
She peered out her window and noticed a man, Joe White, 64, pleading for assistance.
Aughtry’s boyfriend brought White inside the house, where she used a “grass cutter” to remove his rings and a blow dryer to melt ice off his blistered hands.
The Buffalo mom took to Facebook live after her calls to emergency personnel for assistance didn’t result in help. Because she had no medical experience, Aughtry said, she was starting to worry about White.
She proceeded to share what happened and her need for assistance.
“I’m going crazy because I’m scared,” Aughtry said on the livestream, according to CNN. “I’m starting to see his body change too much from the time that I had him – his body has changed rapidly every hour.”
According to officials, emergency responders could not react to calls for hours over the weekend as the storm buried Buffalo in heavy snow, with even ambulances and rescue workers getting trapped.
“I’ve called the National Guard. I’ve called 911,” Aughtry told live viewers on Facebook, CNN reported. “I’ve called everybody – they just keep telling me I’m on a list. I don’t want to be on a list. I don’t care about nothing else. This man is not about to die over here.”
Eventually, someone who reported seeing her livestream came to help, as did others. Aughtry shared a second Facebook livestream showing herself comforting and encouraging White as they rode to the hospital with a group of men, saying she was in the car with him and some good Samaritans who “came and snow plowed us out,” according to CNN.
White arrived at the hospital Sunday night with fourth-degree frostbite and is currently recovering in the intensive care unit.
Ray Barker, the program director of North Park Theater, where White works, said that White became disoriented after leaving his group residence on Christmas Eve morning. He has worked at the theater since 1980, making him its most-tenured employee.
Barker said the theater has been White’s entire life, and that workers are looking forward to his return.
“Thank you, Sha’Kyra and Trent,” a message on the marquee reads, CNN reported. It also reads “Get well soon, Joe.”
CNN reported that the historically intense snowstorm claimed at least 37 lives.
White’s sister, Yvonne White, referred to the fact that her elder brother, who is developmentally disabled, recalled her phone number when Aughtry took him in, calling it a “miracle.” She expressed her gratitude and said she’s hoping and praying for the best as he recovers.
“We were all trying to help each other, and it was wonderful,” she said, CNN reported. “And now I feel like I have a sister and three nephews.”
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