Boyfriend of the year? Toronto man treks 12 km through blizzard to see girlfriend (VIDEO)

Jan 19 2022, 6:30 pm

A lot of crazy stories came out of the Ontario snowstorm on Monday.

Drivers were stuck on the 401 for 10 hours, Doug Ford was rescuing people who were stranded in the snow, and a loyal customer braved the cold to go to a restaurant, only to find out when he got there that it was closed.

Ian Best has an equally insane story. The Seneca College student trekked 12.5 km through the blizzard to share some cake with his girlfriend, Amy.

We planned a few days before the storm that we would hang out on Monday and share cake, but the storm came, and I still wanted to see her,” Best told Daily Hive in an email. 

He documented his journey in two TikToks, which have amassed over 350,000 views combined since he posted them on Tuesday.

@loonboy2020 The ttc failed me I walked 10km in this shit for a kiss from my girlfriend and to bring her cake. #ontario #2022 #girlfriend #ONstorm #toronto #fucktheTTC #snow #loveintheair ♬ original sound – Ian D Best

“The TTC couldn’t bring me to my love, so these legs will,” the first TikTok reads. The video shows Best surrounded by a blanket of snow, with buses and cars halted on the road to his left.

Best began his expedition from his Seneca College dorm room. His plan was to walk to the Finch subway station and take the train the rest of the way to St. Clair West, then take a bus up to Amy’s house.

The storm derailed those plans. He soon found out that the trains from Finch were only running to Lawrence station.

I got on the subway at Finch to Lawrence Station and started the second leg of the journey from there,” he said. 

The TTC announced that shuttle buses were running, but Best says that after seeing all of the buses stuck along Finch, he decided to just keep walking. He left his dorm at 7:30 am and arrived at Amy’s at 11:30 am. All in all, it was about a four-hour mission.

A part of him wanted to turn back in the beginning, as he waded through waist-deep snow in the school parking lot and could barely see with snow blowing in his face. But as he settled into a good pace, he ended up enjoying the walk and “taking in the beautiful surroundings.”

What Best says kept him motivated could melt all of the snow off of buried cars around the city.

The thing that kept me going was thinking of seeing my girlfriend and getting to see her smile when she sees me,” said Best. “I would think about getting to hug Amy when I got exhausted at times.”

The second TikTok shows his arrival at Amy’s house from her perspective. She opens the door to find Best climbing through the last mound of snow to complete his mission.

“You’re insane,” she says in the video, which has the song “We Are The Champions” playing in the background.

@loonboy2020 I made it to her, didn’t die of exposure or snow leopards 🇨🇦🇨🇦#ontario #ONstorm #toronto #fucktheTTC #girlfriend #love #snowstorm2022 #canada_life🇨🇦 ♬ We Are The Champions – Galileo & The Cast Of ‘We Will Rock You’

She was smiling and laughing, which made the moment super special to me,” said Best.

The first video of him trudging through the snow has 700 comments, with many people commending him for his efforts. McDonalds Canada even commented, “You’re a good man.”

One of the main comments was “If they wanted to, they would,” from people expressing their partner’s lack of effort.

To this, Best has some friendly advice: “It’s all about communication. If you feel like your partner isn’t putting their fair share of effort into the relationship, talk to them, don’t go say, ‘If they wanted to, they would’ or complain about them.”

Would Best go through an expedition like that again?

Yes, the experience was amazing for me, but for a lot of people commuting it was terrible,” he said. “I’ll just walk the whole way and bring Amy more cake and kisses.”

Isabelle DoctoIsabelle Docto

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