Couple narrowly escapes tree through roof

Apr. 17—Imagine waking up from a nap and seeing a tree pierce the middle of your home. What sounds like a nightmare has been the reality for Junior and Priscilla Parks for over the past month.

Junior had laid down, propped up his feet, and drifted off to sleep on Sunday, March 10, only to be abruptly awakened by his wife's screams, urging him to evacuate the house.

She had walked into the bedroom to see their roof collapsed.

"I was in the bathroom and didn't hear the tree fall or anything, I looked up and seen the insulation and the ceiling coming down. I told him to get up and get out," Priscilla said.

A white oak tree had speared the ceiling of their bedroom, plunging through the living room and out the front window and totaling the car parked outside.

Junior escaped the scene with scratches down his arm and leg along with bruises, minor injuries given the size of the tree and the scope of the damage.

"I'm gonna tell you, God's with us all the whole time. Now I see a new aspect on life. I look at things a lot more different than I used to," he said.

The car was the first thing Junior made a beeline for after abruptly waking up to the disaster.

"He said 'My car, my car, I got to see about my car.' He went out there, and it was demolished," Priscilla recalled.

The tree had left the hood beat to pieces, a cracked windshield and a whole slew of other problems that resulted in the vehicle being totaled.

Junaluska firefighter William Ledbetter was on his way to church when he heard the tree fall. He immediately went to the scene.

"He just happened to be at the right place at the right time. He's the one who called (911)," Priscilla said.

After being evacuated from the house, the couple was cautioned to not go back inside — it was too dangerous.

Junior was standing outside in nothing but his wife's pink bedroom shoes and a coat.

"He didn't have no shirt, no shoes or socks. We couldn't go back in and get nothing; they wouldn't let us. We just had the clothes off our backs," Priscilla said. "We couldn't even get our medicine, they had to bring it out to us."

More trouble kicked in for Priscilla days after the incident. She had to be rushed to the hospital after getting pneumonia from the insulation.

"I had it all over my glasses," Priscilla said. "When it come down and he was laying there, I screamed, and I took a deep breath, so I breathed it in. I saved him, but I didn't save myself."

To make matters worse, the tree had crushed the BiPAP machine that helps her breathe. Priscilla was in the hospital for five days before checking out with a loaner BiPAP machine in hand.

In about two weeks, after removing the tree, repairs were made to the roof. The Parkses' apartment is as good as new now.

The couple has commended its insurance company for being so helpful during the time of repairs.

"It was pretty easy going with our insurance company," Priscilla said. "They have been right there for us every step of the way."

"They've been so sweet," Junior added.

The fact that they had renter's insurance made all the difference, said the couple's landlady, Margaret Williams.

"I can't stress that enough to new tenants, because it covers things like this," Williams said.

She said upon arriving at the scene she was relieved to see her tenants were OK and was able to contact the rental company's Farm Bureau agency by the morning to have the repairs looked at.

Since the accident, the Parkses are still wary of returning to their home, afraid that another tree might strike their roof.

"We pray that another tree won't fall, because when we hear something, we jump, we want to run out of the door," Priscilla said.

The couple is residing at a nearby motel until they can get a crew together to help them move back in.