NAPLES, Fla. – Heather Donlan is extremely grateful for what strangers did for her elderly father, who was in need of help during Hurricane Ian.
“It’s extraordinary,” she said. “What they did in the middle of the storm for my family, it shows the goodness is there.”
During the height of Hurricane Ian, her 87-year-old father Jack was trapped in his condo.
It was last Wednesday, in the middle of the storm and with spotty cell phone service, Donlan knew her father was in trouble.
He asked for help via text, saying there was standing water and winds too strong for him to get out.
Donlan posted to Facebook asking for help.
The post was seen by Whitney Murphy and her two sons, Luke and Collin.
They responded and offered to help.
“The wind was strong and I couldn’t open the door at first,” said Collin Murphy.
It took more than one attempt for the family to reach Donlan’s father.
When they returned a second time, he had been trapped in over five feet of water for nine hours.
“The smell of diesel was so strong,” Whitney Murphy recalled.
“I got a boat tending rod and I used that as the cane,” said Collin Murphy.
The family was able to rescue Donlan’s father.
And at the height of the storm Heather, who lives several miles away and was also taking on water at her place, didn’t know if she would see her father again.
“There was a moment when we made sure that we let the other know how much we love each other,” Donlan said.
The families embraced on Monday, expressing gratitude for more time and life.