Couple Loses Arms While Hunkering Down in Tornado: ‘They Were Holding Each Other'
The couple both lost an arm during the ordeal, said their relatives
About 19 people in Kentucky were killed during the stormA couple have both lost an arm as they were sheltering inside their Kentucky home that was devastated by a tornado last week, according to their relatives.
'The doctors said that they lost opposite arms is because they were holding each other,' Brandy Bowman told NBC affiliate WLEX about her uncle and aunt, Paul and Gail Cline, who are in their 60s and from Laurel County.
Bowman said that Paul and Gail were in their bedroom when the twister touched down on Friday, May 16. A neighbor heard the couple screaming for help, arrived at their house and pulled them into a hallway, she said.
The family said a person heard Gail's screams while searching for survivors in the neighborhood.
"She said, 'I need help. I see an arm down the hallway,'" Bowman recalled, which turned out to be Gail's damaged arm as a result of the tornado.
The Clines were taken to London Hospital, WLEX reported. In a GoFundMe established to help the family, Gail, who also has a punctured lung due to fragments in her ribs, is on life support.
'Their home and vehicles and everything they've worked for is gone,' Taylor Baker, the couple's other niece, wrote about her uncle and aunt in the fundraiser description. 'They are two of the best people you could ever find. My aunt's daughter also has stage 4 cancer so they were already battling that before this hit. They need all the help and prayers they can get.'
While Paul's condition has improved, Baker told WLEX that her uncle has dementia and hasn't grasped the ordeal.
"All I can't get out of my head is just how terrified they both were. I cannot imagine the fear that was going through their minds, but there's one thing about them, they are godly people," Baker said.
About 19 people were killed in Kentucky following the storm that hit Friday evening, with a majority of the victims from Laurel County, the Associated Press reported.
The National Weather Service characterized the tornado that hit London, Ky., as an EF-4, described as 'violent,' Fox Weather reported.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm.
In a Sunday, May 18, Facebook post, Baker offered gratitude to the community for their help.
'To my friends who showed up with trucks and trailers and drinks and who were ready to help any way they can, I will never be able to explain to you what it meant to me,' she wrote. 'To the strangers who dropped food and drinks and supplies and helped carry and load.. thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know my aunt and uncle would be so so grateful for this outpouring of help. And for the calls, texts and prayers for my family, Thank you all so much.'
'My uncle Paul is stable but did have to have an arm amputated,' she continued. 'My aunt Gail is on life support still and also had an arm taken off. She needs all the prayers she can get.'
PEOPLE contacted Baker on Wednesday, May 21, for comment.
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