The problem with bad weather and roads is how quickly a normal drive can turn into a hellish nightmare, thanks to a random snowstorm crashing down on you.
And when you are a trucker whose job is to transport goods on long stretches of otherwise empty roads, getting stuck can mean being trapped with no support or rescue for hours.
You can radio for help, but until help arrives, what else can you do but stay put in your vehicle?
Snowstorms often result in unsuspecting folks stranded on long, lonely stretches of road.
Because of that, 18-year-old Eileen Eagle Bear from the state of Manitoba, Canada was monitoring the highways of Minto with her mother on that fateful Monday evening.
The reason?
They were on the lookout for anyone who could have gotten stuck in the middle of that whirling blizzard and were in need of rescue.
A noble task – and as luck would have had it, there was someone who indeed was in need of help at that time.
In the middle of the raging blizzard, a trucker found himself stuck with no help in sight.
Even Eagle Bear’s home, which was the closest point of help, was still about 10 km away – a terrifying length to walk in a blinding snowstorm, as anyone who’s been in or near one can tell you.
She didn’t, however, act immediately.
There was a chance that the driver would be able to free himself from the snowdrift in a bit, or would be rescued shortly.
It wasn’t worth risking her life to check in on him if help was on its way.
Instead, she promised herself that should the driver still be there the next morning, she would go bring over some coffee.
Sure enough, the next day revealed the driver still stranded helplessly in the middle of essentially nowhere.
Seeing this, it was time for Eagle Bear to fulfill that promise.
She prepared herself and her horse, Mr Smudge, and headed out into the freezing cold with a coffee-filled Thermos in hand.
It was certainly a surprise for the driver to be awakened by a young girl with a horse, offering him hot coffee!
It seemed that help may not arrive for a while yet, so Eagle Bear promised the unnamed trucker that she would bring him more coffee and a hot meal should he still be stuck in the snow and ice by dinnertime.
And true to her word, later that day the trucker saw the young woman trudging towards him, his promised meal in hand.
Certainly, were it not for her kindness, the driver would not have fared well – it was only about 28 hours later was he able to drive himself out of the snowdrift, on a Tuesday night.
Touched by her daughter’s kindness and bravery, Eagle Bear’s mother decided to write a post on Facebook detailing her daughter’s courageous actions.
The post has since gone viral, and now everyone is applauding Eagle Bear for the care and help she showed towards a stranger in need!
