DECATUR, Ark. — Cinderblocks, a flipped car, and some debris were all that was left of the Pointer's property. The mobile home that once sat there was thrown across Carlton Drive in one of many tornadoes on May 26.
The Pointers recall that morning, experiencing the storm inside their mobile home.
Jesse and Renee Pointer happened to wake up when they noticed their dog whining. They got up to take him to the bathroom when Renee noticed missed calls and text messages on her phone. before she could read them, she got a call from a family friend saying they needed to take cover as a tornado was headed right their way. As Jesse went to the back door, he said "There's no time."
"We went to our laundry room, covered up, and about 20 seconds later the whole house started swaying and just flipped," Renee said.
"Everything went black. I mean, we don't know if we blacked out. We don't know," Jesse said.
The two hit the ground and Jesse rolled onto Renee, waiting until the debris stopped moving. Renee had held onto a light and Jesse found a portable kitchen LED when they noticed a truck on the road. Jesse and Renee got up and ran to the truck where they got help from a man nearby, Meekal Dalati.
"I don't even know how it worked out. I mean, I assume he was trying to get out of there and just happened to be in the spot that we needed him to be in. He did everything for us," Jesse said.
The couple had lost their phones in the storm but Dalati was using his to try contacting help, despite service cutting in and out. That's when Jesse said their adrenaline wore out saying "The pain was awful. I haven't felt anything like it."
"He tried to keep us awake, saying, 'You can't go to sleep yet. Just stay awake. Just stay with me. We're working on it. I can hear chainsaws in the background. They're coming. Just hang on.' We owe him a lot," Renee said.
Once EMS arrived, the Pointers recall being carried on boards for a mile and even strapped to a tractor to reach ambulances. They were eventually taken to an area hospital where they were seen for 6 hours before being discharged.
Nearly a week later, their wounds from the Tornado remain.
"She ended up having a fractured elbow, bruised brain, liver, and hips. I had some hematomas throughout my body on the inside and broken back in five places," Jesse said.
The Pointers said the rest of their family was spared from the storm, with Jesse's brother and their two children all away from home.
"He was working. Our son was with his other dad. And my daughter was with her mom. One of the first thoughts I had was 'I'm not going to see them again,'" Jesse said.
"That was a rough thing to think about," Renee said.
Much of their home is scattered on the other side of Carlton Drive, with them claiming that the family was still searching for parts of the home. They said they found the drum of the washer they took cover next to 300 yards away.
With no house for them to come home to, Jesse and Renee said they've found a place in their community and a place in their heart for love.
"Everyone has been incredible. So helpful, just the amount of love," Renee said.
"We love you. All of you. Everyone. Thank you is not even enough. We definitely love them all, even the strangers helped us," Jesse said.
The Pointers said they're staying in a local hotel but have been offered many places to stay afterward. They tell us they plan to rebuild in time but are focused on expressing their gratitude for the community. If you'd like to help the family, you can make donations to a GoFundMe organized on their behalf.
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