CHARLOTTE — A tree fell onto the Regal Oaks apartment building, trapping resident Lenore Richardson in her bedroom until firefighters arrived to rescue her.
The incident occurred when Richardson was sitting on her bed in her second-floor apartment and heard a loud noise.
Moments later, she found herself looking at the sky as the tree pinned her down.
“I have to keep telling myself, even though you lost everything, you’re still here and I was so afraid I wasn’t gonna be here,” Richardson said.
Richardson attempted to free herself but was unable to lift the heavy tree. “I tried to push it up, I’m gonna get it, this is heavy, I can’t get out of here,” she recalled.
The tree’s weight could have crushed her, but her headboard stopped it from causing more harm.
When the first firefighter entered the room, he initially did not know Richardson was there.
“I could see on his face, this is not good,” Richardson said. “Then when he saw me, he lit up, that’s ok, we have you, we are gonna get you out, the fire department was so nice to me.”
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Richardson sustained minor injuries, including bumps and bruises on her arms and shoulders, but she knows it could have been much worse.
Currently staying in a motel, Richardson expressed her motivation to survive, driven by her desire to see her grandson.
“My grandson is 3 months old and I was just like, I have to see him, I can’t not let him know who I am,” she said.
Thanks to the swift response of the firefighters, Richardson escaped with minor injuries and is now recovering in a motel, grateful for her survival and looking forward to seeing her grandson.
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