An Ohio mother was left with heavy bruising and her daughter broke both her ankles after an EF3 tornado ripped through their home.
Amanda Gear was flung around her home as 150 mph winds tore her Columbus-area trailer apart on March 15, leaving her with two black eyes, deep bruising, and broken bones in her face.
Her daughter, Caylie Short, 15, broke both of her ankles after she was flung 50 feet outside their trailer onto State Route 33.
“I remember my mom. I heard my mom screaming and I looked up and I was on a road,” Caylie told WWNYTV. “I didn’t know. I looked around and I didn’t know where it was.”
Short had been hiding under her mattress when her mother started yelling. When she peeked out, the house had begun to fall around her.
“I went to the wall where our backdoor is and then I went to the ceiling,” she told the local outlet.
Gear found her daughter on Route 33 unable to move her legs or walk. Short had broken the same bone in each ankle and one was sticking out, according to WWNYTV.
She also suffered from a minor collarbone break, alongside various cuts and bones, a family friend said in a GoFundMe fundraiser.
She was rushed to Mary Rutan Hospital before being rushed to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, where she went into surgery.
Short’s stepfather, Brian Scurlock, was at work when the tornado struck and quickly rushed to the hospital to see Short.
“The first thing I did when I got in the hospital was go over and hug her and just start crying,” Scurlock told WWNYTV. “I told her I’m glad she made it and just that I was going to be there for her.”
Gear herself recalled her experience mid-tornado, saying she remembers “looking up” and it “looked like it was daylight.”
As Short remains in the hospital, the family is trying to figure out how to proceed after their home was destroyed.
“I will never take a tornado siren lightly again,” Scurlock said.
