The wife of a Kentucky man who was trapped under a collapsed candle factory in the aftermath of a tornado touchdown says she prayed with her husband over the phone while he was trapped.
According to Faithwire, Courtney Saxton, 38, said she spoke with her husband, Mark, Friday night as he was trapped under debris from the Mayfield Consumer Products factory after tornadoes tore through the area.
“He was calling us hollering and screaming and crying because he was stuck,” Saxton told the Associated Press. “It was scary for me because I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, is he going to make it?’
“So I prayed with him over the phone, too. I just kept talking to him, kept telling him that God will work it out, be strong, don’t give up, keep fighting.”
Mark survived with minor scrapes and bruises, but his cousin Robert Daniels, a corrections officer who had been overseeing inmates working at the site, died.
“I really didn’t think I was going to make it,” Mark said. “If you see the people that were beside me … I can’t believe I’m even here.”
Mark said the tornado hit fast, and he didn’t have time to take cover.
“Tiles and concrete started falling,” he said. “Walls imploded. Everyone started running, so I just dropped to the ground. I got in a fetal position, and the concrete slab fell on top of me.”
Courtney and the couple’s five children took shelter in a bathtub as the tornado tore the roof off their home.
“They were scared, screaming, crying,” she said. “It was awful. I was trying to calm them down, but the whole time I’m praying, I knew that God would see us through.”
As Christian Headlines previously reported, at least 50 tornadoes tore through some eight states over the weekend. About 100 people are feared dead from the storms.
Related:
More Than 100 Feared Dead after Tornadoes Sweep across 8 States
Cross Remains Standing at Kentucky Church Ravaged by Tornado: 'The Gospel Will Remain for Eternity'
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Brett Carlsen/Stringer
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
