'People with great hearts': Good samaritans provide food, warmth to stranded Metro Vancouver commuters

For pregnant Alisha DeLeon, who was caught in the Alex Fraser Bridge gridlock, aid came in the form of hot tea and dessert offered by a group of strangers going car to car

Stranded in the same area during Tuesday night’s snowstorm, Alisha and Carl DeLeon were in separate vehicles trying to get home to their kids, age two and four, in North Delta.

They left work around 3:30 p.m.: Carl from Metrotown and Alisha from New Westminster. Traffic, already at a painful crawl through the Queensborough Bridge, came to a standstill before the Alex Fraser.

Carl managed to squeeze through around 8:30 p.m., likely one of the last cars to get through before the cable-stayed bridge was shut down.

“When I went through, there were maybe five buses, 10 semis, and multiple cars sideways, some trying to put their chains on,” he said. “They were stuck, slipping and sliding.”

Alisha, eight months pregnant, was trapped behind the bridge.

There were barely any instructions or updates about what was going on, she said. “It was confusing. There was no information. They just close the bridge down and you literally just sit there.”

Carl was worried about Alisha’s blood sugar level as she only had water and some snacks in the car. While filling up for gas, he asked a Delta police officer to see if there was any effort to deliver food or water to stranded passengers but was told maintenance crews were trying their best to clear the road.

Aid was delivered to Alisha around 1:30 a.m.: Hot tea and dessert offered by a group of Good Samaritans, who walked on foot, likely from their homes in the Queensborough area, going car-to-car, bearing bowls of snacks and pouring chai tea.

“It was at that point where I was starting to worry if I was going to make it,” she said. “It made you feel that in a terrible situation, there is some good, still.”

The couple expressed their gratitude to the many people whose small acts of kindness they saw unfold throughout the long, difficult night.

As he drove up a hill towards his home, Carl saw many vehicles abandoned on the side of the road. But he also saw people getting out of their homes and helping others.

“There’s people with great hearts and big intentions out there,” he said. “It’s always good to know that in a time of need, you can rely on each other and on strangers.”

cchan@postmedia.com

Click here to read more stories from drivers in Tuesday night’s nightmare commute home.

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