A Prius, skis and a snowplow
Pediatric surgeon Dr. Michael Livingston braved Saturday’s storm — with the help of a snowplow driver — to get to McMaster Children’s Hospital
In the wee hours of Saturday morning, amid a messy mix of precipitation, pediatric surgeon Dr. Michael Livingston got a call.
“Snow was coming down, and I had to get to the hospital urgently,” he said.
In a story reminiscent of a whittled-down version of the beloved movie “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” a Hamilton doctor recounted his trek to work:
“I went in my car, got out at the end of the driveway, but then got stuck on our city street pretty much right away,” he said.
Livingston tried to dig out his Toyota Prius, with whom he’s shared many snowy back road adventures, but the car kept getting stuck.
“I quickly realized, ‘OK, I have two options: One is I just go back to bed, and that’s probably not ideal, and the other is to try something different,’ ” he said.
Livingston, who loves the outdoors, stepped into his skis, put on a helmet and headlamp, and “coasted” down the gentle slope near his Dundas home. He figured he could ski the six kilometres to McMaster Children’s Hospital in about an hour.
But when he hit the main road at the bottom, he encountered a very different problem: it was “totally cleared,” and the snow on the side was too deep to easily manoeuvre.
“In some ways, my plan kind of backfired,” he said. “I realized it was going to a big challenge ... to get there.”
Since it was before 5 a.m., there were few cars on the road. Standing on the corner of Governors Road, he tried hailing a taxi and ordering a car on ride-sharing apps, with no luck.
He was starting to feel “hopeless.” “I had actually tried to wave down a few people, but I think they all kind of looked at me like I was crazy,” he said.
Early-morning snow removal is Dundas man Mike Hannigan’s bread and butter in the winter months, so he was up before dawn Saturday morning, clearing snow at a condominium complex on Moss Boulevard.
“On my way down the hill, I was sliding in the truck, and I see this guy standing there waving,” said Hannigan, owner of pandemic venture Lawn Express. “I assumed he was waving, like, ‘Hey, don’t run me over.’ ”
But as he turned the corner, Livingston gestured furiously, both hands in the air.
Hannigan wasn’t sure what to make of the man wearing a helmet with a blinking red light, but he stopped anyway, thinking he might need help. Livingston explained he was a surgeon and needed to get to MacKids immediately to care for a patient, and asked if Hannigan could drive him.
The plow driver agreed, then discovered the doctor’s unique mode of transportation.
“He was like, ‘Do you mind if I put my skis in the back?’ ” Hannigan chuckled.
They arrived at the hospital in about 10 minutes, despite the messy conditions.
“I knew he had an important job to make, so I made sure we got there,” he said.
Livingston called this snowstorm generosity the “ultimate Canadian moment.” Hannigan, he said, offered to help “without skipping a beat.”
“He drove me straight to the hospital,” he said. “I was super grateful.”