Man who sheltered tragic twister family: Thought my home was safer

Video: Neighbors’ deaths haunt tornado survivor

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   >> much. jason miller lived next door to angel babcock 's family in indiana and was racing to help them when he was picked up and thrown by the tornado. he joins us from the university of louisville hospital. good morning, jason.

   >> good morning.

   >> i understand that you saw the babcock family lying face down, holding hands and praying. you went outside to try to ask them to come to your mobile home . is that how it happened?

   >> well, what actually happened was when i stepped outside the door to see how close it was, i saw what i thought was a funnel cloud coming down. i just shouted out, "tornado" and i heard somebody yell. i looked over and they were outside of their house. so i ran over and i told them to come. they were in a trailer. i said, come over here. we had a double wide , but i thought it would be a little safer. i grabbed a little girl and they each grabbed a child and we ran over. i told them to get in the hallway. we dropped down in the hallway. i wasn't quite aware of how close it was. i went back outside. when i saw how close it was, that's when i went back inside. i told everybody to grab hands. we started praying and it just crushed us.

   >> what do you remember about being picked up by the tornado?

   >> well, i blacked out pretty quick. i do remember the wind hitting the building, the house. i remember popping. i remember there was a point when i realized the house was going to be gone. i do remember being sucked up into the air, knowing the house was going up. the entire house was sucked up. then i don't remember anything other than opening my eyes at one point when i was way up in the twister. at some point during me being in the twister i opened my eyes and somehow remember looking down and realizing i was 50 feet in the air, spinning in a twister. i don't remember anything until i was found a while later.

   >> you were found some 400 feet away from where you were. what are your injuries? we can see that they seem extensive.

   >> yeah. i think my arm is broken like really high. a main bone is broken. there's a second break a little lower. that goes into my elbow. my back is broken. i have five broken ribs. my right arm, as you can see, is just bruised. it's a miracle p my legs are fine. that's what i'm most -- you know, i can't quit saying how thankful i am for my legs and my good arm. i'm in pain but i'm very lucky.

   >> as you know, i will give you this opportunity to speak about the babcock family you tried to save, especially hearing now that little 15 -month-old angel has now died. what would you like to say about them?

   >> yeah. i just found out last night. i saw on the news to know that happened. i can't express how it makes me feel. you know, they were next door neighbors. you know, just knowing that all five of them didn't make it. i'm the only one that did is really hard on me. i feel some sense of guilt for bringing them into my house and then they died from there. but at the same time i think their trailer would not have been safe. it also disappeared. i wish i could have done more. i guess i just mainly feel thankful that i'm alive. i can't believe it was me and the rest of them didn't make it. it's very saddening to hear that the whole family passed away and i was holding their hands just seconds before they died. it's very devastating. you know, i'm thankful to be here and thankful for people who prayed for me. yesterday was sunday. i believe a lot of people said a lot of prayers for me. that's something that's kept me up. that's when i found out she had passed away . it was later after that. i felt the strength that came from everyone praying and i appreciate that from all across the country. i want to thank everybody for that. that's what we need and what we continue to need for that.

   >> i'm sure after hearing your comments a lot more people are praying for you and your community and would congratulate you for trying your best to save them. jason miller , thank you so much. our best to you.

   >> thank you very much.

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