An infant was picked up by a tornado in Tennessee last week and carried out of his bassinet as his home was demolished around him.
The child, a four-month-old, somehow landed safely and his parents are thanking God for his survival.
The incident occurred last Saturday during a severe weather outbreak that devastated much of the city of Clarksville.
Clarksville Now, citing data from The National Weather Service, reported the tornado that struck the city was an EF-3 with winds of up to 150 mph.
The twister’s path was more than 11 miles long and up to 600 yards wide.
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USA Today reported six people died in the storm – three in Clarksville and three in Nashville – but a baby boy is not among them, thanks to the grace of God.
The child’s mother, 22-year-old Sydney Moore, said she was in her mobile home with her boyfriend and their baby boy when the tornado struck.
The infant was in his bassinet when the rondo struck their home, she told WSMV-TV.
As the storm began to rip the structure apart, Moore said she felt compelled to protect the sleeping baby.
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“Something in me just told me to run and jump on top of my son,” she told the outlet. “The moment I jumped on him the walls collapsed.”
As the twister ripped apart her home, she said the wind picked her child up and carried him away.
“The roof came off first, the tip of the tornado came down and picked up the bassinet with our baby,” she said. “He was the first thing to go up.”
Moore’s boyfriend jumped to grab the bassinet with the baby boy inside. Both he and the child were sucked out of the structure by the tornado.
“He was just holding on to the bassinet the whole time, and they went into circles,” the mom explained.
Once the storm passed, the shaken mother and father went on a search for their infant son.
In all places, they found him after a 10-minute search lying on the debris of a downed tree and covered in rain. Even more surprising to the couple was the fact the baby boy was safe, minus a cut to his ear.
“I thought he was dead,” the mother recalled.
Moore added, “I was pretty sure he was dead, and we weren’t going to find him. But he’s here, and that’s by the grace of God.”
“I will die for my kids,” the young mother said. “That’s not even a question. And my boyfriend would do the same thing.”
The young family is currently without a home but they are all alive and well.
Moore’s sister Caitlyn Moore has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her sister start over after she lost her home and car.
Caitlyn Moore also spoke about the manner in which her four-month-old nephew was found.
“We are told that he looked like he was placed on the tree gently. Like an angel guided him safely to that spot,” she wrote. “If anyone would like to reach out and offer prayers, donations, support, anything you can…”
The campaign had raised more than $54,000 of its $60,000 goal as of Friday afternoon.
