‘I was afraid I was going to die’: Pense woman rescued by stranger during blizzard

In Shannon St.Onge’s moment of need, a man from a farm near Pense was there.

St.Onge found herself stuck in a terrifying situation Monday night as blizzard conditions with winds around 90 kilometres per hour encompassed much of Saskatchewan.

She was just trying to get home to Pense after running some errands. The storm wasn’t supposed to hit for another few hours — or so she thought.

“Within minutes, the storm came out of nowhere,” St.Onge recalled. “I found myself driving with my head out of the driver’s window, watching the edge of the gravel as my guide, while I crawled forward at 15 kilometres per hour.

“I did this for about 10 kilometres until I could no longer see and I had to stop right where I was.”

The conditions were getting worse by the minute and St.Onge couldn’t help but think about the situation she found herself in.

“I definitely was afraid that I would never see my kids again, I was afraid that I would be buried in a snowbank or the tailpipe would become clogged and I wouldn’t wake up if I fell asleep, or that I would be hit by a car,” she said.

“I was afraid I was going to die.”

May I interrupt today’s doom scrolling with a good story about my dad from a couple of nights ago.🧵 pic.twitter.com/J3P4u5Bj6n

— Nicole Cowie (@NicoleCowie3) February 3, 2022

After some thinking, followed by a text to a colleague, St.Onge posted a picture of her Google Earth location to the Facebook group intended for people in the Pense area.

“I was asking if anyone knew any of the homes in my area and then there was sort of this little back and forth between some of the community members,” she said.

“A gentleman from Vancouver who actually knew who owned one of the farms reached out to the family’s son in Regina, gave him my phone number, and he called me — after calling his father — to tell me that (the father) was on his way with the tractor.”

By this point, there were multiple vehicles behind St.Onge, with six other people in a very similar situation to hers — stuck in the blizzard.

It wasn’t long before St.Onge got another phone call.

“The next thing I know, Andre Jr. from Regina called again, and he said, ‘Andre can’t get the tractor started, so he’s walking out,’ ” she said.

Andre Bouvier, 80, walked through wicked conditions to get to St.Onge and three other vehicles before directing them to his farmhouse.

He said the conditions were too bad for him to get in his tractor, adding he felt more comfortable walking to the vehicles.

“I couldn’t see anything anyway, so why bother? The worst part was just walking up against the wind,” he said. “The only time I got worried was when I couldn’t find my driveway after I left, because it was just that you couldn’t see a thing.

“It was completely black (and) there was zero visibility. The LED flashlight and compass helped me.”

St.Onge says she can’t say how thankful she was for Bouvier making the trek.

“He knew exactly what to do. He was calm, he was cool, he was collected,” she said. “He made me feel like he had the whole situation under control.”

Bouvier ended up walking around an eighth of a mile to get to St.Onge and the others.

The Bouviers welcomed the stranded motorists into their home with open arms, laughing and sharing stories throughout the night before St.Onge and the other people were able to drive out in the morning.

“I thought that he was a hero,” St.Onge said.

She was able to make it back home to her place in Pense before her kids woke up.

“I blindly and boldly promised them on the phone that I would be home before they woke up, and I actually made it home before they woke up, by the grace of God,” St.Onge said. “Even though they knew I was safe, it was their first night without their mom at home.

“I ended up climbing into bed just as my son was waking up, and he rolled over and gave me the biggest hug and said, ‘I’m so glad you’re home.’ ”

When Bouvier was asked why he put his own life in danger to help a total stranger, he says the decision was easy to make.

“You do what you have to do,” he said. “I would do it again tomorrow.

“Just do what you can when you can help. Just do it. Don’t think about it — do it.”