Picher storm victim identified; her 4-year-old in Tulsa hospital
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By Sheila Stogsdill
Published: May 12, 2008
PICHER — The 4-year-old son of a woman killed in Saturday's tornado is recuperating in a Tulsa hospital two days after being ripped from his father's arms and thrown almost two blocks from home.
Mistie Kelley, 30, died after a large tornado ripped through town, leveling the home where she hid with her son, Brandon, and her husband, Jack, according to family members.
"Brandon is doing real well," said Larry Kelley, the boy's grandfather.
Brandon received 22 staples in the back of his head, stitches to his ear and treatment for a laceration on his cheek, he said.
"He has no broken bones, all the CT scans came back normal and his back is scraped up real bad," Kelley said.
The National Weather Service reported that based on structural damage in the area, an EF-4 tornado hit Picher with winds estimated at 166 to 175 mph.
Jack, Mistie and Brandon rode out the storm in a closet in their home, Larry Kelley said. All that remains is the house's foundation, he said.
Jack Kelley, 30, is a special education teacher and former Commerce football coach.
"The winds blew Brandon out of his daddy's arms, then picked up Jack and blew him around," Larry Kelley said. "When it was all over, Jack was under a pile of rubble about a block-and-a half from where their house once stood."
Jack dug himself out of the rubble and was yelling for help in finding his family when his father and brother, John, reached him.
As the men began to look for Mistie Kelley and Brandon, a faint cry for help was heard beneath a pile of rubble, prompting the men to frantically pull away debris and broken glass with their bare hands.
Brandon was found underneath the rubble. Mistie Kelley's body was found nearby, Larry Kelley said.
Jack Kelley suffered four broken ribs, three broken vertebrae, a split spleen, multiple abrasions and a bruised kidney, Larry Kelley said.
He remains in the intensive care unit of a Tulsa hospital, he said.
