Joy Colby shows a family scrapbook to, from left, EMT Michael Chaigne, Director of Emergency Services Tony Reavley, LuAnne Reavley, Capt. Dale Head and Lt. Michael Hyde at the Colby family’s reception Sunday.
Joy Colby greets Hamilton County EMT Michael Chaigne at a reception the Colby family held Sunday to honor the emergency responders who rescued them after the April 27, tornadoes collapsed their Apison house with them inside.When Bob Colby and his family were trapped in their collapsed house, he could only describe the sound of incoming chain saws as “sweetness.”
After tornadoes tore through Apison on April 27, 2011, the Colbys – Bob, Joy, and their children Steven and Lauren – were among the 1,500 families whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the string of powerful twisters that ripped through the tri-state region.
More than two years later, the family is healthy, happy and housed once again.
The “tight-knit, God-based” group recently moved into their rebuilt McGhee Road home and on Sunday they thanked the first responders of Hamilton County who came to their aid that awful day.
“Do y’all know how important you are?” Joy Colby asked the group of Hamilton County emergency responders. “Wherever you were, whoever you were helping, thank you.”