Although Matte McGarry does not seek recognition for helping a stranded pedestrian during the wild snowstorm our region had on January 25, his concern and heroics most certainly deserve a resounding shout out for his actions in rescuing an elderly man who had slipped and found himself upside down inside a snowbank that night on Burnett Street. McGarry was out driving the Auburn DPW snowplow on that Sunday night about 10:45 p.m. That was the night that the New England Patriots had just punched their ticket to play in Super Bowl LX.

“I was headed back from the Auburn/Worcester line. I had just turned the plow around to head back towards Auburn when I suddenly saw legs flailing and sticking out of a roadside snowbank,” he said. “It was almost cartoon-ish. I stopped my truck, backed up, and jumped out of the cab. I ran over to the snowbank, reached in, and I pulled the elderly guy back up to the surface. He was really shaken up and I learned that he had been walking home from his neighbor’s house after he’d watched the Patriots’ game and his residence was about three houses down from his neighbor.” McGarry then mentioned that his wife had been a physical therapist and she’d taught him how to lift people properly. That knowledge was certainly of keen importance in the unfortunate situation. The powdery and slippery snow had prevented the man from getting his footing and traction. “His legs were not functioning very well and his knees kept collapsing but at that point, the neighbor he had visited was out on the sidewalk standing next to the distressed guy. The man kept saying that he couldn’t stabilize himself. Apparently, the neighbor had seen the bright plow lights and came outside to see what was happening. The neighbor said he would help his friend and quickly assisted and took care of him. “I was just in the right place at the right time,” said McGarry.

Coincidentally, the next day, when Mr. McGarry was out re-plowing the street, the distressed man’s neighbor ran out of his house to speak with him and thanked him profusely again for his assistance. 

This winter has been one of the worst for snowstorms that our area has seen in years. As a reminder for all of us, here’s some good advice: Be patient with your snow plowers! Be patient as they clear the roads and sidewalks for you. Snowplowing is probably one of the toughest jobs out there, especially when the crews are plowing in white-out conditions. Commuters just don’t realize how much work goes into clearing roadways and sidewalks. McGarry mentioned that the Auburn town snow plowers had been clearing sidewalks for four days straight and that it would most likely take another few days to get everything squared away as best as they could. 

“People don’t realize that the snowplow salt spreaders are programmed to the speed of the truck,” McGarry said, “The DPW plowers/salters know that people have jobs and appointments to get to but that salt is what’s helping them get to their destination.” The salt has been engineered to be eco-friendly, has a certain tackiness to it so that it sticks to the road, and has a slow-melting coating that helps it to dissolve slower and more efficiently. Auburn does not use liquid brine for road pre-treatment in anticipation of a snow storm.  The best advice, as former Governor Charlie Baker always said, “Don’t crowd the plow.”