A Buffalo couple who sheltered a deceased woman’s body during a blizzard was praised by the woman’s son for their heroic actions after she collapsed during the historic storm.
The woman, identified as Carolyn Eubanks, 63, died as her son, Antwaine Parker, and his stepbrother, Kenneth Johnson, attempted to move her from her home on Christmas Eve, The Buffalo News reported.
Western New York was gripped by blizzards that made travel difficult and caused multiple homes to lose both electricity and heating ahead of Christmas. At least 28 people have died in western New York.
Parker and Johnson decided to travel to Eubanks’ home in Lovejoy due to concerns about her health during the winter storm. Ahead of travel, Parker contacted 911 and was told by operators that there was nothing they could do to respond during the blizzard.
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Eubanks had a heart condition and required electricity to run an oxygen machine. Parker said that he feared she would not survive and couldn’t rely on her diminishing supply of portable oxygen canisters.
Due to the weather conditions, blocked roads and traffic jams, Parker and Johnson were forced to park their car two blocks away from Eubanks’ home. The journey, which would normally take 10 minutes by car, took the pair around seven hours.
When the pair reached Eubanks’ home they attempted to get her back to the vehicle but she eventually collapsed and died during the walk.
Parker pounded the doors of several homes on Ideal Street asking for help before Buffalo couple David Purdy and his fiancée, Cassieopia Layhee, opened their door.
Parker and Purdy took turns trying to resuscitate Eubanks when she was brought into the home before they realized that she had died.
When Parker called his wife and told her what happened she became distraught and wanted to travel to Lovejoy immediately. Parker and Purdy agreed it would be best for him to return to his home and check on his wife while leaving his mother’s body at Purdy’s home.
Purdy and his fiancée kept the body covered inside the house and when power and heat returned, they moved the body to the porch to slow down the decomposition, after clearing that with Parker.
Parker praised the couple for their support during the tragedy while speaking to The Buffalo News.
“They’re two beautiful people. They didn’t have to let me in,” he told the newspaper. “I had to thank Dave and Cassie, two strangers I’ve never seen in my life, never met. They allowed my mother to rest in peace on their living room floor.”
Purdy said: “It’s saddening. This lady was six months younger than my mom. My mom lives a couple blocks away and is on oxygen, and if she needed help, I’d hope there would be people out there to help her, as well.”
Eubanks’ body stayed at the home for about 24 hours before it was taken to Erie County Medical Center.
First responders showed up on Ideal Street with snowmobiles, a front loader and a pickup truck with a plow on Sunday and took the body in the pickup.
In addition to her son, Eubanks was survived by four stepsons, two stepdaughters and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
