CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Monday marked one year since the December tornadoes tore through our community and changed many people's lives.
One family, that owns Battleground Fitness in Clarksville, survived the storm huddled in the back bathroom of their small, new gym.
The building didn’t make it — but the family of five did.
“I said Kate, it is time to go," Steve Jackson said last year, the night of the December tornadoes. “You know what we did? We prayed."
Steve, his daughter Kate Champlin, her husband David Champlin, and their kids, Jackson and Cora, all made it out without a scratch.
One year later, at the family's other gym in town, we talked to Steve and the family again.
"It's a memory that sometimes we want to forget about, but we don't want to forget about our togetherness," Steve said.
The family recalled the moments from that day, particularly the minutes they huddled close together in the back bathroom to protect one another.
"I put Cora under me, Jackson's under David, and...Dad's on top of all of us, holding us down," remembered Kate.
"It was the most horrifying 45 seconds of my life," added her son Jackson.
Even so, the family shared how grateful they were for their lives, and how they leaned on God through it all.
"It reminds me that God is real, and he does protect us, and he blessed us with this time together, and we shouldn't waste it," said Kate.
"To see [my grandchildren] come on and grow up and play with them...and you don't think a lot of it — until you go through this," explained Steve. "And then every moment after that is more precious to me."
The family also reminded us — theirs is one story of many. Others lost their lives, their loved ones, and their homes, and much of the community is still healing.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
