A 70-year-old woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, is thankful to be alive after a massive tree unexpectedly crashed into her apartment and trapped her inside.
On Friday, Oct. 31, Lenore Richardson was lying in bed at the Oasis at Regal Oaks complex when she suddenly heard a loud noise and realized something was terribly wrong, according to WSOC, ABC News and WTVD.
“I heard a crack, and then I’m looking at the sky,” she recalled in a Wednesday, Nov. 12 interview with WSOC.
The impact left her stuck beneath debris as part of the tree crashed directly into her bedroom. Richardson described the terrifying moment she understood she could not break free on her own.
“I was like, ‘This is heavy! I can’t get out of here,’ ” she said. “Even though you lost everything, you’re still here. And I was so afraid I wasn’t gonna be here.”
Reports note that the headboard of her bed helped shield her from a more serious injury by stopping the tree from hitting her directly.
Soon after the accident, firefighters rushed into the room. Richardson remembered seeing concern wash over the first responder’s face as he assessed the destruction above her.
“When he saw me, I said, ‘I have to get out of here,’ and he lit up and said, ‘That’s okay, we have you. We’re gonna get you out.’ ”
She added that the fire department treated her with great care throughout the rescue.
Footage obtained by WSOC showed the tree collapsed into the apartment with debris scattered everywhere.
Despite the frightening scene, Richardson escaped with only bruises on her arms and shoulders.
She says she drew strength from thoughts of her grandchild.
“My grandson is 3 months old and I was just like, ‘I have to see him, I can’t not let him know who I am.’ ”
In an earlier interview in October, Battalion Chief Tristan Durban praised the residents in the building who rushed to help while emergency responders were en route.
“Thank goodness for good neighbors,” he said.
