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Minnesota father and son survive being sucked up by tornado
Austin Hackley would have had a great fish story from his trip to Canada.
"It was a 27 and a half inch walleye that I caught. It was huge," said the 17-year-old Stillwater boy. But now, he has a miraculous story of how an F-2 tornado lifted him, his dad, his grandfather and his two cousins up inside it, then spit them out a few seconds later. "It made a sound like a giant vacuum cleaner," Austin said. The Hackleys were staying at a resort near Ear Falls in northwestern Ontario. Austin said when the tornado hit Thursday evening, he and his family ran into the cabin's bathroom. Austin's dad said he felt the cabin get sucked off its foundation. He said he was free floating in the air for about ten seconds. "I thought we were going to die," Bob Hackley said in a phone interview. "I felt like a rag doll being tossed in the air." Hackley said he and Austin and Austin's grandfather fell back to the ground a few feet from the lake. Austin's cousins were dropped on top of a hill about 20 yards away. Three men from Oklahoma were staying in a cabin next door to the Hackleys. Those men did not survive. "I was terrified," said Austin. Beating the odds is nothing new to Austin. He was born with a rare genetic disorder. He has undergone three surgeries and he ate through a feeding tube until he was eight. "He survived everything better than they ever said," said Renee Cveykus, Austin's mother. "And we are just so proud of him." Austin made it through the tornado with eight stitches near his ankle and various scrapes around his body. Since Saturday evening, Austin has been back at home with his family, his dog, and his favorite movie, Twister. "Your heart sinks and you think, a tornado. And how did they survive?" wondered Cveykus. "And then you learn that the people right next to them died. You just don't know how or why, but you are grateful." (Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved,)
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