COLUMBUS, Ohio — A family who lived at the Geiger Mobile Home Park in Lakeview believes they’re lucky to be alive after an EF-3 tornado ripped their lives to shreds last week. Fifteen-year-old Caylie Short suffered the worst injuries in her family, breaking both of her ankles.
"It was scary, I was confused,” Short said.
Fear and confusion are mostly what Short said she remembered about the tornado as it struck her family’s trailer. She said she was hiding beneath her mattress when her mom went to lock the door and suddenly started yelling.
"When I peeked out, the house started falling, and then I went to the wall like where our back door is, and I went to the ceiling, I covered my head,” Short said.
The tornado’s 150 mph winds flung Short and her mom, Amanda Gear, around as it ripped apart their home.
"Then I remember, I heard my mom screaming and then I looked up and I was on a road. I looked around and I didn't know where I was,” Short said.
Gear said she found her daughter about fifty feet from their trailer on state Route 33.
"I couldn't move my legs, we tried walking and I couldn't,” Short said.
"She broke the same bone in both ankles, but the left one was sticking out,” Gear said.
Caylie was rushed to Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine before being transferred to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus where she was rushed into surgery.
Gear is still struggling with visible bruises of her own all over her face and body.
"Being thrown around in there I think is just what beat me up,” Gear said.
Gear said it was just like what she’s seen in the movies.
"I can remember looking up when I was trying to get up. It looked like it was daylight,” Gear said.
Their home was placed right next to the trailer where two other women died from their injuries.
Short’s stepdad, Brian Scurlock, was at work at the time. He rushed to the hospital as soon as he heard what happened.
"The first thing I did when I got to the hospital was go over and hug her and just started crying. I told her I'm glad she made it and just that I was gonna be there for her,” Scurlock said.
Now this family is trying to figure out what their new normal will look like. While the road ahead is unclear, they say they couldn’t be more grateful for the community around them.
"I told her we're gonna get through this one day at a time,” Gear said.
Short said the doctors told her she’d have to stay in the hospital for at least another week.
If you’d like to help Short and her family who lost everything, you can donate to their GoFundMe here.