80-Year-old Man Walks Through Blizzard to Rescue 3 Cars of People:
This still from a video taken by Shannon St. Onge shows the winter conditions she got stranded in Monday near Pense, Sask.(Shannon St. Onge)
A retiree rescuer hiked half a kilometer through a winter whiteout to reach a woman that had used social media to alert the local neighborhood that she was stuck and afraid for her safety. At 80-years old, Andre Bouvier Sr. is being hailed as a hero for rescuing not only the woman, but three other cars likewise stuck in an impassable blizzard which locals describe as a “Saskatchewan Screamer.” Shannon St. Onge, the woman who the retiree saved, was driving to the City of Regina to get a signature for a business check. It started to snow so she left the regular roads for a dirt one to get better traction, but she got lost. She first called 911 only to not have someone come for her for 14 hours. Stopping at a sign that gave her a location, she then went on Facebook groups as a last resort to signal those in the surrounding area for help. That’s when Andre Bouvier Sr., doing some at-home genealogy research, got a call about St. Onge’s situation, and bundling up while ignoring his wife’s concern for his safety, the 80-year-old went out to find her, on foot, since he couldn’t manage to start his tractor. On the way he found three other stranded vehicles, totaling seven people, and walking the quarter-mile there and back, he led the helpless cars one by one to his home.