By Bradley Cobb
JERUSALEM, Ark. (BNc)- Ona Magar, a faithful sister of the Lord’s church that meets in Jerusalem, was severely injured in the string of tornadoes that went across the Midwest this past Tuesday.
She was in her house when the tornado struck it. The house is currently unrecognizable, according to eyewitnesses.
Scott Roderick, minister at the Jerusalem congregation, who is also a volunteer fireman and first responder, was the first to arrive at the scene. He had driven around checking to see if people in the community of 150 people made it through the storms safely. He came upon the house and knew that Mrs. Magar, a widow in her late 70’s, was inside.
When he found her inside the rubble, he knew she was hurt badly. Shortly thereafter, others arrived to help. There was no time to wait for an ambulance–the nearest one being at least 25-30 minutes away–so they made a make-shift stretcher from boards and planks, strapped her to it and loaded her into the back of brother Roderick’s sport utility vehicle.
He drove her to the emergency room in Conway, where it was determined that she had a broken neck, broken shoulder, broken arm, injured hip, as well as multiple serious cuts, scrapes, bruises and punctures.
Wednesday, she was stable enough to be transported to a Little Rock hospital.
Mr. Roderick suffered a nail puncture in his hand during the rescue and received a shot at the emergency room.
The Jerusalem congregation spent most of Wednesday assisting with the clean-up effort and providing food for workers cleaning up debris.
This comes shortly after tornadoes hit the area earlier this year, killing one in nearby Appleton and damaging many houses throughout the Jerusalem area.
2008-02-08 at 1:17 pm
She is in Conway, arkansas hospital. She had surgery but is in ICU.