An Ohio mom has revealed the horrific bruising she suffered when a killer tornado which also broke her daughter’s ankles ripped through her home.
Amanda Gear was left with broken facial bones after 150mph winds tore through her trailer at the Geiger Mobile Home Park in Lakeview.
Her daughter Caylie Short, 15, shattered both her ankles after the fierce gusts blew her 50 feet outside her home.
‘I couldn’t move my legs. We tried walking and I couldn’t,’ Caylie told WWNYTV from her bed at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. ‘It was scary, I was confused.’
The teen was cowering under her mattress when her home began to collapse. She heard her mother screaming and the next thing she knew she had been thrown into the road.
An Ohio mom has revealed the horrific bruising she suffered when a killer tornado tore through her home
Amanda Gear (left) was left with broken facial bones, while her daughter Caylie Short (right) broke both her ankles
The family were caught up in a 155mph twister which tore through the Geiger Mobile Home Park in Lakeview
Short, 15, has already undergone two surgeries and will have a long recovery ahead
Gear is still struggling with heavy bruising after being battered by the winds.
‘Being thrown around in there and I think is just what beat me up,’ she said. ‘I can remember looking up when I’m trying to get up, it looked like it was daylight.’
She described her horror after discovering Short’s injuries, which also included a broken clavicle.
‘She broke the same bone on both ankles, but the left one was sticking out,’ Gear described. ‘I told her we’re gonna get through this one day at a time.’
Short was rushed to hospital where she received two surgeries and is expected to have a long recovery ahead.
‘The first thing I did when I got in the hospital was go over and hug her and just start crying,’ Short’s stepfather Brian Scurlock said. ‘I told her I’m glad she made it and just that I was going to be there for her.
‘I will never take a tornado siren lightly again.’ A GoFundMe has now been set up to help their recovery costs.
The family were among dozens injured when the EF3 tornado ripped through Indian Lake.
Gear and Short’s stepdad Brian Sturrock were among those caught in the EF3 tornado
Three people were killed when a series of twisters ripped through Ohio on March 14
Gov. Mike DeWine also activated the Ohio National Guard to help officials in Logan County where the fatalities occurred
Damaged boat docks after severe weather on Orchard Island in Russells Point, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024
The twister killed three people and injured 27 total. The Logan County Sheriff’s Office identified the victims as 81-year-old Marilyn Snapp, of Lakeview, 70-year-old Darla Williams, of Lakeview, and 69-year-old Neal Longfellow, of Orchard Island.
The two communities were among the hardest hit by severe weather that spread destruction across parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas and injured dozens.
At least nine tornadoes and numerous severe thunderstorms struck central Ohio. The most devastating tornado was an EF-3 that began in southern Auglaize County near Fryburg and continued through the Lakeview area.
EF-2 tornados – which forecasters say can have winds up to 111 to 135 mphwere confirmed in central Union County and in Darke and Miami counties along with Crawford/Richland counties.
Crews were still working Monday to clear away downed trees and other debris, including materials from damaged or destroyed homes.
Some areas were still without electrical service, though many customers have been restored.
A woman searches through clothing at Indian Lake High School on Saturday, March 16, 2024, in Indian Lake, in Logan County, Ohio
Joe Baker’s damaged home in Valleyview, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024
A boat sits upside down on a tree on Orchard Island in Russells Point, Ohio, on Saturday, March 16, 2024
Gov. Mike DeWine also activated the Ohio National Guard to help officials in Logan County where the fatalities occurred.
A state of emergency was declared by DeWine in 11 counties in total.
Samantha Snipes, 33, said that when she first heard the tornado warning, she called her father Joe Baker who lives seven minutes away and told him to take cover.
He said he was trying get into the closet in her childhood home and then the phone cut out.
She and her husband attempted to drive down the main road to get to him but couldn’t and had to get through the back way after the tornado passed.
‘It looked like out of a movie, like `Twister´’ she said. ‘My dad´s garage was leveled. The back of his house is gone. Like everything´s gone.’
They climbed over everything screaming for him. When they found him, he wasn’t injured and he told them to stop crying, she said.