Man dies after walking from stuck vehicle in blizzard

WATERTOWN, S.D. (KELO) – A man in rural South Dakota died after walking from his stuck vehicle during a blizzard Thursday. 

The Codington County Sheriff’s Office has identified the man as 46-year-old Joseph Pesall. 

A deputy responded to a call to 172nd Street and 445th Avenue for a man who has having difficulty breathing and was extremely cold. 

The outside temperature was -9 with wind chill temperatures as low as -40 at the time with blowing snow and limited to no visibility. 

The deputy, who is also an emergency medical technician, ran around a half-mile in the deep snow to help a good Samaritan with CPR. 

The Watertown Fire Department then plowed a path to Pesall so the ambulance could reach him and transport him to the hospital. 

Ambulance personnel continued CPR, but Pesall was pronounced dead at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System hospital in Watertown.