CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — The members of Boy Scout Troop 59 in Sissonville were honored with a West Virginia Legislative Citation for helping save a stranded Kentucky man from freezing to death on Saturday.
Del. Dana Ferrell — who represents the Sissonville area — called the members of the Troop “real heroes” for saving 67-year-old Greg Painter of Louisa after he got stuck in last weekend’s snowstorm.
Painter, who is an avid outdoorsman, lives at Rice Ave.
He had no reason for being in the very rural area at that time in the morning during the video interview shown above. Our thanks to WOWK for allowing the republication.
Here is what he told The Lazer this morning:
“The news got it pretty close, snow was knee deep, not a foot deep, everything else was right, it took 3 hours to make it to a road, still approximately 20 miles to a town or house, not knowing if anyone would drive by or that the scouts were camping.”
–Greg Painter
Painter said he was driving to the Cranberry Glades for a camping trip on Friday night. But on his way to the botanical area, his car got stuck in a pile of snow around 7 p.m.
“I tried to back up. Nothing happened. I tried to go forward. Nothing happened,” Painter said. “I just got back in the Jeep and thought I’d wait until daylight to find out what was going on.”
During this time, the temperatures were single digits, and it was dark out. Painter says he feared the worst. Painter was stuck, and freezing. Even his water bottles he packed turned to ice.
Painter says he waited until sunrise, then abandoned his car and set off on foot, hoping to find warmth. After a long three hours walking through a foot of snow, Painter found the Boy Scouts camping.
“I just knew I couldn’t give up,” Painter said. “I knew it was still a long way to help and I didn’t know they were there.”
Greg Painter, 67, of Rice Ave. in Louisa
“He was visibly shaken and he had told me that he thought he was a, maybe even getting dehydrated,” Dudley said. “I said we’ve got water. Let’s let’s get you inside here and get you warmed up a little bit.”
Then a team of Boy Scouts drove Painter back to his Jeep and dug it out. From there, Painter was able to drive back home safely to Louisa, Kentucky.
Painter thanks the Boy Scouts for saving his life.
“I was freezing. There they were. It was like a prayer answered.”
