Texas boy, 7, recovering after he was sucked up by tornado that destroyed his home (2024)

Family rescued by storm chaser livestreaming tornado

Published: May. 3, 2024 at 5:34 PM CDT

ABILENE, Texas (KWTX) - An Abilene-area family whose rescue by a storm chaser was recorded during a livestream of the tornado that destroyed their home is miraculously home from the hospital and recovering.

Hawley mom Kasey Lambert, 34, was seen on video that’s been viewed more than a million times carrying her daughter, Allie, 4, from the aftermath of the storm into the vehicle of storm chaser Freddy McKinney.

McKinney was filming the tornado as it hovered over the home of the Lamberts in the small community of Hawley, a town with a population around 600 and 13 miles southeast of Abilene.

Kasey and Allie, along with Kasey’s husband, Wes, 35, and their son Lane, 7, were all taking cover in the family’s closet when the tornado hit.

“There was no sound of wind, so that was weird,” Kasey recalled. “We could hear the nails coming out of the board and bricks and wood flying, metal being ripped, but that’s all we could hear. Had we have been asleep and not seen it, we wouldn’t have ever known.”

The family says 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’s people. There’s people,” you can hear the storm chaser say as they run up to his car. “Get in the car, get in the car.”

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

“Please, God, help! Hurry,” Kasey frantically pleaded.

The family had all laid on top of each other in the closet as the tornado hit.

Kasey laid over Allie and Wes on top of Lane.

At one point, the family tells KWTX, Kasey was hit with flying debris in the head so Lane moved his arm to help shield her and that’s when he lost grip of his son.

“Lane got sucked up in the tornado. He lost Lane. He couldn’t hold him down,” said Kasey’s first cousin, Bradye McQueen, 33, who has been with the family since the tragedy. “It sucked him up and he flew like 25 feet and 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.

“The water heater fell on Kasey and that’s where the bruising on her back and her side were from,” Bradye said. “They were able to get up and were screaming for Lane and they found him on the other side of the house on top of a pile of insulation which probably cushioned his fall.”

The storm chaser 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,” Bradye said.

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

While Allie was the one seen on video being carried to the car by Kasey, she escaped without a single injury.

“That was probably just her mom instinct to pick her up and run,” Bradye said.

The family was all released from the hospital and home around midnight.

The family’s house and six other homes nearby were destroyed.

They also lost their vehicles. Kasey’s cell phone was found six miles away so they say with no car or phones the storm chaser’s help made all the difference.

Freddy not only rushed the family to the hospital, he also later came back to return their dog.

On Friday, he spent the day with them as they began to pick up the pieces.

“I’m so grateful for Freddy being out there and stopping to help,” Kasey said. “He was so kind and stable.”

The family dog who rode with the family to the hospital is at the vet for care. A second family dog was in surgery Friday.

Kasey said the family knows they are lucky to be alive.

“We are glad we are alive,” Kasey told KWTX. “It is an absolute miracle. It was strong enough that we shouldn’t have been able to walk away.”

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the Lambert Family rebuild their home.

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