Gander woman rescued by snowstorm saviour

A Gander woman was saved by a good Samaritan during last week's blizzard and she doesn't even know her saviour's last name.

Amal Ghobrial is originally from Egypt and works as a family doctor in the Gander area.

Ghobrial's work often takes her to remote parts of the province. On Wednesday, she was commuting to a clinic in Gander Bay.

"I usually check the forecast before I go," Ghobrial said in an interview with the Central Morning Show.

"It said that day it's only light snow so I said, 'Okay. I'll go there and do the clinic and get back before the snow starts.' But, of course, that never happened."

My main concern was that I'd go in the ditch and nobody would see me.- AmalGhobrial, Gander resident

High winds and blowing snow created whiteout conditions on the roads and, to make matters worse, Ghobrial was driving a compact car with no winter tires.

"My main concern was that I'd go in the ditch and nobody would see me," she said.

Ghobrial decided to pull over and spend the night in her car.

That's when sherealized that she was running low on gas, and didn't have enough fuel to keep the car running and keep her warm for the night.

"Then I started to cry, of course. I was so shaky."

Ghobrial pulled onto the shoulderand flagged down a passing car to ask for a ride to Gander. Before long, a man in a white vehicle stopped.

"The guy said, 'Yes, definitely. I don't mind taking you to Gander. The only thing is, the [plow's] coming and it's definitely going to blow your car away. It won't see your car.' That's how bad it was," Ghobrial said.

Before leaving, the man took her keys and parked her car a safe distance back from the road to ensure it wouldn't be struck by a plow or any other vehicles.

The driver, who Ghobrial only knows as Tim, then brought her to the Gander Hospital.

Later that evening, Ghobrial received a call at work.

"He went back again to Gander Bay Road," she said.

"The switchboard in the hospital called me and said someone dropped off your car keys and he said your car is in the hospital parking."

Ghobrial said she had been so shaken by the event, she didn't asked for the driver's last name. In fact, she couldn't even recall the make of his vehicle only that it was off-white in colour.

"I'm actually calling to thank you, Tim,so much," she said in the interview.

"That was really wonderful and kind of him. I'm originally from Egypt and, in a small town, even if they don't know your name, at least they know faces," Ghobrial said.

"I don't look familiar to anybody ... So to even stop his car and help me and give me a ride. Who does this?"

Ghobrial said, since arriving in Newfoundland, she's been blown away by the kindness of people in the province.

"You wake up every day and find that your neighbour's done your driveway ... They help you to the extreme," she said.

"There are no words to explain what I felt then. I can't really find this anywhere else, except in Newfoundland."