Hurricane IRMA victim- Cole Pruitt
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Hurricane IRMA has caused devastating damages to many families and homes all across Florida. Unfortunately, my brother Cole was one of the victims who was impacted by this horrible natural disaster.
Cole was home sleeping when a massive tree came crashing through the roof at approximately 12:45 am in Clermont, Florida, pinning him to his bed. This was about the time that Hurricane Irma was at its peak in this area. After frantic 911 calls, the dispatcher first said they were unable to send emergency responders due to the severity of the hurricane. She stated his call was 1 out of 60 they were unable to currently attend to and they were unable to give an exact arrival time. After much persistence, the call was picked up by the Clermont Fire Department (Chief Carle Bishop) followed by the Clermont Police Department. They came and extracted the tree off of him and removed him from his bed. At this point, it was unknown if he was even going to make it. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak..nothing. Due to lack of transport, Chief Carle Bishop transported him in the backseat of his truck along with a paramedic. No one else was able to join him on the ride to the hospital because of the dangers the storm posed.
Due to the severity of his injuries, he needed to go to ORMC for treatment but was unable to do so because of the weather conditions. He was transported to South Lake Hospital. There was no surgeon on duty at the time and a Clermont police officer drove to the surgeon's home and brought her to the hospital to perform surgery on Cole. I am forever thankful for Dr. Sinclair, Chief Carle Bishop, and the police officer. They risked their lives traveling to the hospital amidst the hurricane in order to save my brother's life. Cole was bleeding internally and had to undergo an emergency splenectomy which took approximately 3 1/2 hours and also suffered from broken ribs which in turn punctured his lungs. He is now in ICU.
My mother's and brother's home was condemned and deemed unlivable. They lost everything and do not have renter's insurance. Cole will be unable to work due to a very very long road to recovery. He also has a two year old son. Any help that you can give is greatly appreciated.
I am very thankful to Dr. Sinclair, the hospital staff, the Fire Chief Carle Bishop , the Clermont Fire Department and the Clermont Police Department. If it weren't for each one of them, he would not be alive to even share this story. Please keep him in your prayers.
The tree in his ceiling:
My brother's bed:
The tree penetrating the roof of his room:
Cole was home sleeping when a massive tree came crashing through the roof at approximately 12:45 am in Clermont, Florida, pinning him to his bed. This was about the time that Hurricane Irma was at its peak in this area. After frantic 911 calls, the dispatcher first said they were unable to send emergency responders due to the severity of the hurricane. She stated his call was 1 out of 60 they were unable to currently attend to and they were unable to give an exact arrival time. After much persistence, the call was picked up by the Clermont Fire Department (Chief Carle Bishop) followed by the Clermont Police Department. They came and extracted the tree off of him and removed him from his bed. At this point, it was unknown if he was even going to make it. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak..nothing. Due to lack of transport, Chief Carle Bishop transported him in the backseat of his truck along with a paramedic. No one else was able to join him on the ride to the hospital because of the dangers the storm posed.
Due to the severity of his injuries, he needed to go to ORMC for treatment but was unable to do so because of the weather conditions. He was transported to South Lake Hospital. There was no surgeon on duty at the time and a Clermont police officer drove to the surgeon's home and brought her to the hospital to perform surgery on Cole. I am forever thankful for Dr. Sinclair, Chief Carle Bishop, and the police officer. They risked their lives traveling to the hospital amidst the hurricane in order to save my brother's life. Cole was bleeding internally and had to undergo an emergency splenectomy which took approximately 3 1/2 hours and also suffered from broken ribs which in turn punctured his lungs. He is now in ICU.
My mother's and brother's home was condemned and deemed unlivable. They lost everything and do not have renter's insurance. Cole will be unable to work due to a very very long road to recovery. He also has a two year old son. Any help that you can give is greatly appreciated.
I am very thankful to Dr. Sinclair, the hospital staff, the Fire Chief Carle Bishop , the Clermont Fire Department and the Clermont Police Department. If it weren't for each one of them, he would not be alive to even share this story. Please keep him in your prayers.
The tree in his ceiling:My brother's bed:The tree penetrating the roof of his room:
Organizer
Kristi Human
Organizer
Clermont, FL
