Iqaluit couple hopes to find Good Samaritans who rescued husband in blizzard

An Iqaluit man stranded in the snow during a blizzard Sunday afternoon got home safely thanks to three strangers who stopped to help — and now his family hopes to thank them.

Ronald Famulag was driving home from his job at Qikiqtani General Hospital when worsening weather left him stuck in deep snowdrifts on the Road to Nowhere, not far from where his family lives.

Conditions deteriorated Sunday afternoon with heavy snow and wind speeds reaching 60 km/h, bringing a wind chill below -40 C around the time Famulag finished his shift.

His troubles began when he turned into the intersection between the Road to Nowhere and Niaqunngusiariaq Road.

“I tried driving my car, going up past the stop sign but I couldn’t see anything. It was zero visibility and my car got stuck there [in a snowbank],” he said.

At home, his wife Perly Famulag waited with their two children.

“I said to them, ‘How come it’s almost 4 o’clock and your dad is not home yet?’” she said.

When she called him around 4:10 p.m., she learned his SUV was stuck in a snowdrift that was higher than the front end of his vehicle.

“He was going in and out of the car trying to figure out what to do, but he couldn’t see what direction he should go,” she said.

Attempts by Perly Famulag to call a taxi or towing company failed because the businesses were closed.

Ronald Famulag spent about 45 minutes stuck in the snow before someone knocked on his vehicle door to check on him.

Soon, two more strangers offered to help, one of whom got in the SUV and was able to back it out of the snowbank.

The same man drove him home, as Ronald Famulag’s hands were nearly frozen from the cold, while the two others acted as guides with their vehicle lights.

“When they parked our car, [Ronald] hugged the driver and said, ‘Thank you for saving my life,’” said Perly Famulag, who was at the front door in tears waiting for him.

The couple have lived in Iqaluit for 12 years. Perly Famulag, who works as a human resources co-ordinator with the territorial Department of Justice, said community kindness is common, but this experience stood out.

“People here are friendly and they often help each other, but this is the first time for us,” she said.

“It really touched my heart, because it was a life-and-death situation.”

Ronald Famulag said he couldn’t clearly identify the three men who helped him because they were fully covered and the snow was blinding.

“I forgot to get [the driver’s] name, because at the time I was panicking,” he said.

He recalls only a few details: the driver was tall and wearing a black jacket, and two of the people who helped him were white and the other was Black.

Perly Famulag and her family hope the good Samaritans see their story and reach out to them on Facebook.

“I really want to personally thank them, maybe invite them for dinner because of what they did for my husband,” she said.