Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..
Scattered showers and thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
A tree fell on the home of a Soso family, critically injuring a teenager.
A tree fell on the home of a Soso family, critically injuring a teenager.
A nightmare for Soso family, firefighters
A Soso teenager and his family were awakened by the same nightmare on Tuesday morning. A tree fell on the 14-year-old West Jones sophomore while he was sleeping in his bed in the predawn hours. For a harrowing half-hour, firefighters worked urgently but carefully to free him from beneath the massive fallen tree’s frame.
While Kenny and Crystle Harvey’s family were all asleep in their West Franklin Street home, there was a sudden crash that jolted them all awake. The tree fell right on top of Christian Harvey, 14, as he and his 17-year-old brother Wyatt Harvey slept in the room they share just after 5 a.m. The older brother was OK, but the tree was on Christian’s stomach and pelvis, and he was unable to move.
“It was very scary, but my main concern was getting to him and his brother praying they were alive,” Mr. Harvey said. “His brother was fine and able to get out, but Christian was pinned down by the tree.”
Volunteer firefighters from Soso, Calhoun and Hebron first tended to the victim’s immediate medical needs, then grabbed chainsaws to cut away as much as they safely could to try to free the trapped teen.
“It took a while because of the size of the tree,” Mr. Harvey said. “They did an outstanding job, and we are so grateful for all they did.”
When they could not safely cut the tree any more, the firefighters used hydraulic rescue tools — the jaws of life and a ram — to extricate the teen from the home, pulling him out to safety, said Soso Volunteer Fire Chief Anthony Pitts.
“We had to make a cut on the tree inside the house, then use a hydraulic ram to lift the tree up where the medics could pull him out,” Pitts said. “It's not something we normally do, so we had to figure out what we could do with what we had. We had to think outside the box.”
They had to stabilize the tree before working to free the victim, else they could risk causing him more serious injuries.
Two rescue helicopters were en route to transport the teen to a hospital, but both were unable to fly because of fog, Pitts said.
The teen was then transported by EMServ Ambulance to South Central Regional Hospital before being transferred to University Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. The Jones County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the call.
The teen suffered what were described as life-threatening injuries from the tree crashing into his room, and he is currently in the pediatric ICU.
“UMMC did surgery to fix his bladder (Tuesday) evening and will do surgery to fix his pelvis (Wednesday) morning,” Mr. Harvey said.
Mr. Harvey said his son Christian is a really sweet kid.
“He is more on the shy side,” he said. “He is the type that would do anything to help people. He has a really big heart.” His brother Wyatt is taking the situation OK, but he is scared to be by himself at the moment, Mr. Harvey said.
All the family needs is prayers, he said.
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Your comment has been submitted.
There was a problem reporting this.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.