Jay Withey can’t believe it has already been more than a year since the December 2022 blizzard, when he broke into a Cheektowaga school to find shelter for himself and others who were stranded in the deadly storm.
“Within the last couple of months, it kind of hit me, knowing how close I came to dying and the contribution I was able to make in helping people out,” Withey said Tuesday at a North Tonawanda coffee shop.
About a year ago at this time, Withey was getting back to his normal life after surviving the storm. He said he went to work and was sitting in a dump truck “the following day after everything was clear” from the blizzard. Everything changed when the Cheektowaga Police Department posted on Facebook, seeking to identify and honor the “Jay” who had saved as many as 24 people and then left a handwritten note apologizing for breaking into the Pine Hill Primary Center school on East Delavan Avenue.
He signed the note, “Merry Christmas, Jay.”
From there, everyone wanted to hear his story. He recalled being at a friend’s house one day when he missed a call from a New York City number. When Withey didn’t answer, the same number started calling his friend. When Withey returned the call, it was a news station out of New York City that wanted to do an interview with him. Withey assumed it would be a Zoom interview, but, to his surprise, the news station reporter said they were already on the street where the friend lived.
“It’s been eye opening,” said Withey, 28, a Town of Tonawanda resident. “I guess for the first couple of months, I was kind of riding the wave. I had news media outlets from all over the world reaching out to me. That was pretty surreal.”
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