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People came together to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for two Buffalo, New York, residents after a historic snowstorm devastated western New York during the Christmas holidays. The city received 51 inches of snow, a two-day record.
An online fundraiser for Sha’Kyra Aughtry raised over $168,000, while another fundraiser for Joe White raised over $94,000 in just three days.
Aughtry and White caught the attention of Facebook users after Aughtry went live on the social media platform making a desperate plea on White’s behalf on Christmas Eve.
“Right now I have [an] older 64 year old white man in my house. I found it yesterday. I heard him screaming for help on my street. I look out the window when I looked out the window it was blasting up and down the street. It was out of control,” Outree said in his 15-minute live video.
Outree explained that her friend helped bring White to their home and that the older man had “big ice balls” and gangrene on his hands, turning the video camera to show White’s injuries. She explained that she had to cut off the handles of a shopping bag White was carrying that had stuck to his hands. She also said the older man has a disability and his condition seems to be getting worse, so she went on Facebook Live to ask for help because she had exhausted other options that didn’t work.
“He needs medical attention!” Awtry pleaded. “I’ve had this guy since 6:37am on the 24th.”
Less than an hour after her first live post, Aughtry shared another live video showing several men she called good Samaritans helping her transport White to Erie County Medical Center near her home.
“I have a couple of guys wearing it right now. I just want to show you that I’m not exaggerating. They came in, ransacked my house. They brought him inside [to a waiting truck],” Outree recounts in his second video, which ends with the band sending White to the hospital staff.
White’s sister, Yvonne White, told “Good Morning America” that she was able to visit her brother for the first time Thursday and saw him again Friday while he remains in intensive care at ECMC’s burn unit. She said the condition of her brother’s hands and fingers had not yet improved.
“It’s just touch and go. It’s stable. I mean, his hands are completely wrapped, his fingertips are still purple,” she said. “But he was in a pretty good mood today.”
Ray Barker, a professor and program director at North Park Theater in Buffalo, told “GMA” he is one of White’s friends and said White has a developmental disability. Barker also said he has been White’s manager at the theater where he has worked as a security guard since 1980. He was able to speak with White by phone Thursday.
Barker said nurses at the hospital told him White is cooperating with health care providers, but they don’t yet know his prognosis. “They tell me, the worst case scenario that can happen [an] an amputated finger, and if he can get through it, he may need a skin graft later on,” Barker said.
Barker added that he and the theater staff were grateful to Outree and her friend, who were able to help White through the storm when visibility was low at times. At least 40 deaths were reported in western New York due to the blizzard, according to the Associated Press.
“I was surprised to hear he got lost in the storm,” Barker said, adding that he told White on Dec. 22 not to report to work. “I was, of course, incredibly worried about the consequences of that with the frostbite and then I was very grateful that two people who didn’t know him took the time to bring him into their house. If they hadn’t done that, he might have had a very tragic end and it’s very painful to think about.”
Yvonne White, who said she lives across town from her brother in South Buffalo, added that she also told her brother not to go out in the blizzard, but she’s not sure when he ended up outside.
“He has no idea of the time frame,” she said. “From his injuries and everything, I think he probably fell asleep in the theater and woke up and started to go home. Now, yesterday, he said he did that, but as far as the time frame, nobody knows, as far as what day, nobody knows.”
Despite her brother’s serious injuries, Yvonne White said she is grateful for the “silver lining” in it all and is overwhelmed by the love and support her family has received.
“We gained a sister with Sha’Kira. We gained another brother [her partner]. And now we have three little nephews,” she said. “Sha’Kira and I will be sisters no matter what.”
Chris Dearing, who also works at North Park Theater as marketing director, confirmed to “GMA” that he started the two fundraisers for White and Aughtry.
“Sha’Kyra deserves all the money in the world,” Deering said by email, adding that he doesn’t plan to end fundraising anytime soon and that he has set up a trust in White’s name to receive the donations for him.
ABC News’ Kerem Inal contributed to this report.
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