TORONTO -- A Canadian Ranger has made a lifelong friend after driving 1,600 kilometres to help a stranded American family in British Columbia get to their home in Alaska.
Lynn Marchessault had made plans for a cross-country trip from Georgia to meet her husband, a U.S. Army member stationed at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. She had originally planned to make the trip earlier in the year when weather conditions were easier to handle, but after waiting months for travel documents, the family’s trip was pushed to November.
Once she had everything in order, Marchessault packed up all her belongings into a rented U-Haul and set off in a truck to Alaska, along with her two children, a pair of elderly dogs and a cat named “Midnight.”
“It was a pretty heavy snowstorm with white-out conditions and I was sliding off the road due to traction and the trailer was pulling me as I was going up the hills,” Marchessault told CTV News Channel.
According to CNN, Marchessault became stranded after her tires seemed to lose traction. After venting about her situation with some people at nearby gas station, a Good Samaritan offered to bring the family to a repair shop to get new winter tires. That’s when some residents decided to put out a plea on social media.
Canadian Ranger Gary Bath from Fort St. John, B.C. was on Facebook when he saw that the was a family in need.
“A lot of people were wanting to donate money or saying they wish they could help but no one was able to get off work or be close enough to go do it,” Bath told CTV News Channel on Friday. “So, I talked to my wife and we decided that I would drive all the way from Pink Mountain to the border.”
Bath says he stepped in to offer the family a helping hand because “it was the right thing to do.”
“It took us two and half days, but for me it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “I love driving so what a great way to see parts of the country that I haven’t seen in a few minutes.”
Marchessault says that she and her family are very grateful for Bath’s help and says that they intended to be lifelong friends.
“We’re hoping that when we do leave Alaska some of the COVID restrictions will be lifted by then because we would get to stop [...] to see Gary and his wife on the way through and just thank them again for what they did to help us,” Marchessault added.
