Family says son is a 'hero' after he digs them out of tornado debris

Tornadoes took dozens of homes and 23 lives in Lee County, Alabama, over the weekend. Now, one family is calling their son a “hero” after he saved them from that same fate.

Eric and Julie Sward were at home on Sunday when they started hearing and feeling the wind from tornadoes coming toward them. But after a few moments, they were swept up into it, along with their house’s structure, and thrown hundreds of feet into debris.

“I could feel us just lifting in the air and then we just started tumbling,” Eric told WIAT, explaining that the sound was like that of a powerful vacuum. “When we landed, the bathtub was actually on top of us and a whole lot of weight.”

Right in the house next door, the couple’s grown son Chris had experienced a similar trauma, getting thrown out of his home as well.

“I closed my eyes but when it hit, I hit a tree and then I looked up, didn’t know where I was at,” Chris told the local Alabama outlet.

And without even taking the time to notice his own injuries, Chris began to call for his parents to make sure that they were safe. Luckily, he was able to locate them underneath all of the wreckage.

“He found us and stared digging us out,” Eric explained. “I said, ‘Hurry up,’ and he’s like, ‘Dad, the whole house is on you.'”

With a broken leg and cracked ribs, Chris still managed to pull the heavy debris off of his parents. Now, Eric is calling his son “my hero,” although Chris said, “I just did what I think anybody else would’ve done.”

“If he hadn’t have been here, I don’t know,” Eric said. “It might have been the next day till somebody come find us.”

Along with the rest of the county, the family is looking to rebuild their home that Eric had previously built himself.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

? 12-year-old boy ushers uncle to safety during devastating Alabama tornadoes
? Firefighter with brain tumor given emotional escort through hospital to donate organs after his death
? Man hailed a Girl Scout cookie ‘hero’ is arrested on federal drug charges

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