The recent devastating outbreak of tornadoes that swept across the country took many lives and left in its wake an incalculable amount of loss in both life and property. The Decker family of Marysville, Indiana was not spared this horror but the instinct of mom Stephanie moves the heart as she did what was necessary to save her children.
Stephanie’s husband, Joe Decker, spoke with the Louisville Courier-Journal yesterday and relayed a story of a mother’s courage in the face of terrifying danger. Joe revealed that he was texting his wife from his job at Silver Creek High School on Friday to let her know that radar indicated that a tornado was headed straight for their home.
She reacted by hunkering in the family’s basement with their 8-year-old son, Dominic, and 5-year-old daughter, Reese. Then the texts stop coming from Stephanie…
After their home was reduced to rubble and Stephanie was rushed to an area hospital what happened finally came to light. Stephanie recalled seeing a large piece of debris falling on her and she pulled her daughter out of the way just in time. As the tornado flattened their home Stephanie had layed over her kids while her legs were pulverized.
She has lost one leg below her knee and the other at the ankle and below. As for her children, they had not a scratch on them. Joe told his wife:
‘You’re alive and you get to see your kids grow up. If you look in the basement, there’s no way anybody should have lived, let alone two kids who don’t have a scratch on them.”
The family’s son rushed out to hail down a neighbor to assist his mom. Even though the funnel cloud had passed there was still imminent danger but this didn’t prevent neighbors from stepping up to help Stephanie.
