A Mentally Disabled Man’s Life Is Saved by the Devoted Kindness of a Stranger

Modern heroes emerge in the spirit and story of Luke’s Good Samaritan at a time when the world is turning to the Bible.

Sha’Kyra Aughtry, a 35-year-old Buffalo resident, heard a faint knock at the door on Friday during a severe snowstorm. The other side of the door rang out in a desperate cry for help.

Trent, her boyfriend, found Joey White, 64, a local employee at a movie theatre. The man with severe frostbite was severely ill and in pain.

Trent pulled him from the snowbank and brought him inside.

Kimberly LaRussa (blogger) relayed the story and posted photos. The couple provided life-changing care.

Joey was so frozen that he had to take his socks off. He also used a hairdryer for his frozen pants.

Sha’Kyra, a mother to three children, fed Joey and washed his clothes. She also gave him blankets and made sure he was comfortable until she could get help.

He was in desperate need of help, his hands seemed to have developed gangrene.

Sha’Kyra was successful in getting Joey’s sister’s phone number. “Hi, I don’t know you, but I have your brother at my house.”

His sister believes that he went to the movie theatre on Thursday, became scared, stayed, and then decided to walk home.

Joey was able to communicate with his family via Facetime, “which he loved” — while being looked after by his Good Samaritans. Sha’Kyra then went on Facebook to request help. Strangers arrived, plowed the snow at her door, and then lifted Joey in a blanket onto their truck to transport him to the ER. Sha’Kyra rode along.

She reassured him as they arrived at the hospital

“Honey, no one will hurt you.”

Joey’s sister claims Sha’Kyra saved her brother’s life.

It was especially personal for Sha’Kyra due to her brother. According to the New York Post, the situation brought her back to February 2019, when Darryal Aughtry, 30, crawled up to her door after being shot near her home.

Sha’Kyra instantly thought of Darryal, and how she found him the same way…after he faintly knocked…before succumbing to his gunshot wounds…

Angela, Sha’Kyra’s 32-year-old sister, told The Post:

She was shocked to hear that she could not have it happen again. She said that everything was replayed. … She heard Joey crying outside the door and couldn’t leave him there as the same happened to our brother. She stated that Joey could have [frozen to death] if he was left alone.

Friday night Sha’Kyra and her children wept and asked: “Is Joey gonna die like Uncle Darryal?” She assured her children that he was not going to die on her watch.

Angele considers her sister a hero — “Her heart is so big.”

So big that it rescued a man in great need. As of Monday, according to Kimberly LaRuss:

Joey had fourth-degree frostbite. He is currently in the burn unit at ECMC.

More stories like these are needed, not only in the news but all over the globe. America is now destructively divided. We’re not fighting for ideas, we’re fighting each other. We have become a culture that is divided by political, social, and religious views. A Christmas story reminds us of the beauty and potential of a world created when people come together.

Thank goodness for a kind woman in New York and other New Yorkers who practiced this kind of love.

Kimberly may have said it best: this winter Sha’Kyra has become a “true angel”. Or maybe a snow angel.