While Islanders are known for lending a hand to their neighbors in times of trouble, several people on Vashon say one Islander — Barrett Fox — stood head and shoulders above everyone else for the efforts he took to help people during the recent snows.

“He definitely went above and beyond,” said Mike Henderson of the Eagles, some of whose members chipped in to give Fox gas money for his deeds. “He would get anybody anywhere.”

By Fox’s estimation, he pulled nine people out of ditches, driveways and parking lots and gave at least 12 people rides to places they needed to be.

But the numbers don’t tell the story of how much he helped certain people, according to Islander Mo Brulé, one of the people he assisted.

Brulé, who does elder care, was at work caring for an elderly person in upper Sandy Shores when Fox, a friend of her daughters, called seemingly out of the blue to check in with her to see if she needed anything.

“To me it was a miracle,” Brulé said, because she had been quite concerned about getting home. Fox came to Sandy Shores and gave her a ride, stopping along the way to try to pull someone out of a ditch.

He also went to the ferry to give a lift to one of Brulé’s daughters who was returning home for the holidays from college.

During the snow, Thriftway was not able to complete all of its usual deliveries to homebound people, and the cupboards at the home where Brulé works were bare. It was Fox to the rescue again, when he loaded up his truck with 15 bags of groceries and helped deliver them to the home.

But the person he helped the most — and the snow adventure Fox deemed the most fun — was when he aided Marcia Pearson, who works for the same person as Brulé.

Pearson had a severe ankle injury that needed attention, but she had no way of getting to her doctor at the health center.

Fox was summoned, and the long, steep driveway was impassable even to his vehicle, so he carried Pearson, in her 60s, piggyback-style down the drive to his Blazer, then took her and her adult daughter to the health center, where she stayed for three hours. The mother and daughter had no food in the house, so he took the daughter to the grocery store, then waited and took them home when Pearson was finally able to leave.

“I don’t know what I would have done without him,” Pearson said. “Neighbors helping neighbors out here is grand. But neighbors helping neighbors in two feet of snow is even grander.”

For his part, Fox said he loves to drive in the snow and appreciates the beauty of the Island. He shrugged off the accolades with a warm laugh.

“For heaven’s sake, I was just doing what I thought was right,” he said.