A Year Ago Today

On this day one year ago I was in Jackson, Tennessee on the day the tornadoes hit the area. I was there doing a month long rotation in Family Medicine and had been taking advantage of the free gym membership that came with our hotel. I knew there was bad weather in the area, but I hadn't really been paying much attention all afternoon since I wasn't around a TV. I went straight to Lenny's Sub Shop on Vann Drive which happened to be just outside the reach of the tornado. By the time I had paid for my sandwich and headed back to the hotel the sirens were going off, the power was out at the hotel, and all the guests were huddled in the hallway as I used my cell phone to try to find out what was happening. Some other students that were there came and found us a few minutes later and said that they had just watched the tornado from the lobby.

We soon got word that Union University, my alma mater, and the hospital nearby had received the brunt of the damage. Three other students and I jumped in my Jeep and we began to navigate through the debris along the 45 Bypass. We were unsuccessful in reaching Union that way, so we took the back way down Pleasant Plains were we were able to reach the campus. We got out but people began to try to usher us into a building were students were gathering. We pressed forward to the area where it looked like rescue efforts were occurring. We couldn't really see much and people kept telling us to take shelter in the building. We ultimately left without offering any help that night. We considered going to the hospital we were at for the month, the one that was not hit, to help out there, but were afraid we would only be helpless medical students in the way. I still regret not doing anything that day. I don't know that we would have been any help at either location, but I know that I would have felt better had we tried. Not only are we going to be doctors, but it was my own school.

Seeing the images on the news over the next few days I know many people wondered if Union would ever have classes again. Not only did they resume classes two weeks later, the whole campus has been transformed since that day. The dorms and other buildings are just incredible. Union is truly a new place. It is still amazing to me that no lives were lost at Union. Unfortunately, that was not the case a few miles down the road in Huntersville, where my brother-in-law and his wife rode out the beginning of this tornado. It was really great to see him serve the community over the next week. Katie and I went up there the weekend afterward to help clean up some and got to see the devastation firsthand. The entire area is still recovering and continues to rebuild today. I know many more people were more affected in more profound ways than I was that day, but I know that I learned an important lesson as well. God protected the campus of Union University that day and it is amazing how much good has come from something that could have been so terrible. The next time I am faced with a tragedy of this sort I know that I will have the skills and the confidence to step up and help also.