The harsh winter that has frozen the country this year did not bring just bad news. The snow and the extreme cold did not stop people from doing all they could just to help their families and friends.
Last winter, the Internet community’s attention was channelled to two very brave and humane brothers, Brian and Patrick Lanigan from New Jersey. These brothers, together with their friends, did something that amazed everyone who learnt about it.
The story is really fascinating. Natalie Blair, a neighbour of these two brothers, has problems with her kidneys and she has to do dialysis on a regular basis. However, the winter snowstorm set some problems in the schedule. She wasn’t able to get out of the house. Luckily, she had those two great young neighbours. They jumped into action.
Brian is the older brother in the family. He is part of the EMT and so far in many cases he has been more than helpful to Natalie. This winter, when he was not working, he also helped her with her driveway and shovelled the snow that blocked the access of the house.
After he had cleared out the show from the driveway, Brian thought he is done with neighbour for a while. He was wrong. The night when he was doing the night shift, a terrible snowstorm was coming to the town. The driveway again was blocked and Natalie wasn’t able to go to hospital. Fortunately, Brian’s brother stepped up.
Even though Patrick and his friends were supposed to go to school the next morning, they did not think twice and immediately started planning the shovelling action. Since Natalie is doing the dialysis in the mornings, their plan was to clean the driveway early in the morning, before school. That early time was 4:30 am!
Patrick and his friends gathered up in front of the house and started shovelling. By the time the sun was up, Natalie’s driveway was accessible and she was able to do her dialysis. The boys were pleased to help the lady, even though that left them without sleep. Luckily they had 2 more hours before school and they all got some rest.
Snow Angels disguised as PHS Srs, Justin, Pat, Chris, Tyler & Amon got up super early 4:30 (really never slept) to shovel a driveway for a neighbor who needed to get to dialysis #Goodboys #MooMoo #hopingforasnowday pic.twitter.com/ZMMWbrBRlR
— Peter Lanigan (@TweeterLanigan) March 4, 2019
These acts of compassion, help and good-doing are what we need. The terrible winter that we had had was very difficult for all of us. Imagine how people with long-term illness felt. They were scared that they will be stuck in their houses without the help they need on a regular basis. Luckily, there are people like these New Jersey boys that will do no matter what just to help the people. Bravo boys!
Their father posted some photos of the boys that night. The comments and reactions of the people are wonderful. This ‘heroic action’ was the thing that people needed in that difficult winter period.