SAN ANTONIO — As many continue to recover from the winter storm, one San Antonio family is saying a prayer of thanks.
In the midst of the snow and ice, we saw first responders navigating dangerous roads, risking their lives to save someone else’s.
But it’s what we didn’t see, that made Veronica Degollado reach out to KENS.
When the severe cold weather swept over San Antonio, Degollado and her son had just left the hospital.
She said her son who is 31-years-old and autistic and herself both needed oxygen while they recovered from COVID-19.
But then, the power went out, and their oxygen was running low.
“It was very scary because the electricity kept turning off and on, somebody always had to be awake and alert,” said Degollado. “We were living in fear.”
They made a desperate call to 911, and a crew from the San Antonio Fire Department answered their call for help.
“It was snowing. It was super cold outside. It was dark. The road was horrible, but they came out and filled our tanks,” said Degollado. “We were still on reserve on one of our tanks and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, you know, they came just in time.’”
Joe Arrington with SAFD said they saw a need during the storm, and tapped into their reserve supply of oxygen to help out.
“We realize that we keep a supply of O2 because we keep it on all of our apparatuses for medical treatments,” said Arrington.
SAFD officials said crews responded to nearly 300 calls from people needing oxygen during the storm.
“We saw that if we loaded down four of our trucks with O2 cylinders and we just kept a running tab of who we could go and assist with refilling their O2, that was something that was going above and beyond that we could do,” said Arrington.
And, it was that reserve supply of air, and an act of kindness that for the Degollado family, was the light shining through the darkness.
“When we were in need, they were here for us,” said Degollado. “They went beyond the call of duty.”
“They’re true heroes,” she added.