New Brunswick couple stranded in SUV in P.E.I. for 24 hours
Les and Melissa Gillet stranded after highway closed
A New Brunswick couple were stuck in their SUV for 24 hours in a snowstorm on the outskirts of Summerside, P.E.I. before they could be rescued.
Les and Melissa Gillet of Kars, N.B. were driving to Rosebank in West Prince to pick up their children from their grandmother’s Sunday morning as a blizzard blew over the Island. They got turned around when the highway closed following an accident, then got stuck in a six-foot drift in the roundabout at Travellers Rest on the edge of Summerside.
They were able to contact RCMP, but as the storm blew up police could not reach them.
The couple had food, water, and a tank full of gas, and kept in touch with police about how they were doing.
Dwayne Aitken, an employee at Green Diamond Equipment, heard about the couple’s plight Monday morning, and cleared a path to the SUV with a snowblower attached to a tractor.
The couple were stuck in their SUV for almost 24 hours.
"We jumped in a very warm cab of that tractor and he gave us a ride back down, dropped us here," said Les Gillet, safely ensconced at the Summerside Motel.
"Everybody's happy and safe and that's the main thing."
Gillet expressed gratitude to Aitken, and his amazement at the spirit of helping in the Maritimes.
The SUV is still in the snow drift.