‘Absolute miracle’: Boy, 7, survives being thrown by tornado that destroyed family home

ABILENE, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) - A Texas family is back home recovering after a tornado destroyed their home.

Storm chaser Freddy McKinney helped rescue the Lambert family while he was filming the tornado as it hovered over their home.

Wes and Kasey Lambert along with their daughter Allie and son Lane were all taking cover in the family’s closet when the tornado hit.

“We could hear the nails coming out of the boards and metal being ripped, but that’s all we could hear,” Kasey Lambert said.

The family said as soon as the tornado appeared to move away from their house, they took off running down the road.

That’s when they caught the eye of McKinney, whom the family had seen set up near their driveway minutes before the tornado hit.

“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. There are people. There are people,” McKinney can be heard saying in his storm chaser video. “Get in the car, get in the car.”

Kasey pleaded for help while running to the car carrying Allie.

The family said they all were on top of each other in the closet as the tornado hit.

At one point, Kasey Lambert was hit with flying debris in the head. So, 7-year-old Lane moved his arm to help shield her but that’s when they lost grip of him.

“Lane got sucked up in the tornado. They couldn’t hold him down,” Kasey Lambert’s first cousin, Bradye McQueen, said. “It sucked him up and he flew like 25 feet. They thought he was gone.”

Based on the storm chaser’s footage, the family believes the tornado hovered over the house for a couple of minutes.

When it was over, Lane was found on top of insulation in a different part of the house.

McKinney rushed the family and one of their dogs to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.

The most seriously hurt was Lane. He suffered a dislocated shoulder and had severe injuries to his face and eyes which caused heavy bleeding.

“We think he may have been hit with a brick,” McQueen said.

Wes Lambert suffered a fractured wrist and an injured knee while Kasey Lambert has lots of bruising.

Allie, 4, was carried to McKinney‘s car by her mother. She escaped without injury.

The Lambert family was released from the hospital, but their house and six others were destroyed.

They also lost their vehicles.

However, they say they know they are lucky to be alive.

“It is an absolute miracle,” Kasey Lambert said. “It was strong enough that we shouldn’t have been able to walk away.”

A GoFundMe account has been started to help the family during their recovery.