In an act that proves that there is still (at least a little) good in the world, a group of high school kids braved the freezing conditions in the wee small hours of the morning to ensure that a woman who needed kidney dialysis could make her hospital appointment.
Patrick Lanigan and his mates are school students in New Jersey at Parsippany High School. They could have easily slept in on a snow day but decided to get up early to perform a good deed.
You see, their elderly neighbour Natalie Blair had an appointment at the hospital the following morning, and the ambulance transportation to take her there was due to arrive first thing - 6am to be precise.
Brian, Patrick's older brother, had already shovelled the driveway last week, but then the weather - as it has a tendency to do at this time of year - had other ideas. Eight more inches of snow arrived and left the driveway impassable for the woman.
Brian - who works as a local emergency medical technician (EMT) - knew that he'd be at work when the ambulance arrived, so they had to look at other options to ensure Natalie could get to her appointment.
Given the importance of kidney dialysis, it was quite literally a matter of life and death.
So, Patrick called up a few guys from his phone book, and together they got up at around 4.30am to clear the heavy snowfall from the driveway. Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them - it turns out - wield shovels.
Patrick and four mates slept over at his house before waking up at that ungodly hour to help. Many hands, as the old saying goes, make light work. Within half an hour they'd sorted the whole drive out.
However, nature wasn't done with them then. They might have hoped that they'd get a snow day as a sort of karmic reward for their good deed. After all, there was a lot of snow and they must have been very tired.
They got an extra couple of hours' extra sleep in the end, as their school delayed opening. This good deed would have completely passed unnoticed had it not been for Patrick's dad, Peter.
He shared a picture of the young LADs and said: "Snow Angels disguised as PHS Srs [seniors], Justin, Pat, Chris, Tyler & Amon got up super early 4.30 (really never slept) to shovel a driveway for a neighbor who needed to get to dialysis."
The tweet went viral, and Peter says Patrick is 'humbled' by the attention it has garnered for him. He also described his son as a 'small kid with a big heart'.
He certainly is that, Brian.
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