A Buffalo man who was rescued during the recent blizzard has undergone multiple surgeries in an attempt to save his fingers after getting fourth-degree frostbite, but doctors were eventually unable to preserve the digits.
Woman rescues man with “ice balls” on his hands from freezing
During the historic blizzard of 2022 in Buffalo, New York, a woman heard someone outside screaming for help.
Sha’Kyra Aughtry didn’t know the man and was hesitant about opening her door, but she realized he needed help and knew she had to do something, WGRZ reported.
“The winds were sweeping him away,” Aughtry recalls. “I seen his body and then I didn’t see his body. He was stumbling and falling.”
“I told my boyfriend Trent, ‘hey, there is a guy outside we gotta bring him in,'” Aughtry said.
She says her boyfriend “wasn’t on board right away” but finally went outside to help the man. Aughtry said her boyfriend had a difficult time bringing the man indoors because he was nearly frozen.
“Ice balls was on his hands,” Aughtry said. “He was like frozen. His pants were frozen. His shoes were frozen.”
Aughtry then called a family member, a nurse who lives out of state, to get information on what she should do to help the man with poor circulation and frostbite from the cold.
She then asked the man his name, and he gave her the number of his sister. The sister informed her that the man, Joe White, known as Joey, 64, was from a group home for people with developmental disabilities in the area. He was on his way to work at the North Park Theatre when he was trapped in the blizzard.
Good Samaritans help get man to hospital when authorities fail to help
Joey stayed with the family for two days while Aughtry tried to get help through 911 and the National Guard to get him to a hospital. Still getting no response, she reached out on social media for help getting him to a hospital, and good Samaritans responded, including former football player Doug Worthington. Two men arrived in a truck and transported Joey to ECMC.
But by the time help arrived, the damage had already been done.
Mentally disabled Buffalo man rescued from historic blizzard has lost all his fingers to frostbite, community steps up
Over more than two weeks, Joey underwent several surgeries in an attempt to save his fingers after he suffered fourth-degree frostbite. However, despite valiant efforts by physicians, they were unable to save his digits, WGRZ reported in an update.
His sister, Yvonne White, said Joey had all of his fingers removed except for half a thumb, the Daily Mail reported.
After the story of White’s rescue by Aughtry went viral, Go Fund Me pages for both White and Aughtry raised $100,000 each.
“Yvonne, where are my fingers?” Joey asked her in the hospital, she said. Yvonne said she couldn’t help but cry when he said those words.
Experts gave Yvonne some advice on how to discuss the situation with Joey.
“They said you can tell him. ‘Yes, you lost your fingers. But now you’re going to get special fingers,'” Yvonne said. “This is going to be hard for him.”
Yvonne says she is beyond grateful for the support her brother has received from Aughtry in the community.
“The outpouring of love in this community – you’ll never find that in any other city,” Yvonne declared. “I’m convinced of that.”
