LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - The man who tried to save a baby in a deadly storm is out of the hospital. Jason Miller is the only person who survived when he and a family of five took shelter during the March 2 tornado outbreak.
"I feel like I'm almost a new man," Miller told WAVE 3 in an exclusive interview. He spent 15 days in University of Louisville Hospital after suffering injuries from the deadly storm. "I feel like I was in a trap. So now as I'm coming out of here I'm free."
It'll take two to three months for his body to heal now that's he's been discharged from two weeks of bedridden rest.
"To know that we lost five of my neighbors that's still real fresh in my mind. There's a lot of emotions that still stick with me," Miller said.
When the EF-4 twister swept through Pekin, Indiana, Miller tried to provide cover for his neighbors. They all laid down in a hallway together. The family, including a toddler found crying in a nearby field, did not survive.
His neighbors, 21-year-old Joe Babcock and 20-year-old Moriah Brough, rushed into his double-wide mobile home.
"As soon as that house ripped up, I immediately blacked out. There was a point in there, I don't know why or how it's possible, I didn't bang my head but I do specifically remember opening my eyes up there and looking down and thinking I'm 50 feet up. I'm like, 'wow I'm in a tornado.' "
Miller huddled in his home with the couple and their children, Jaydon ,2, Kendall, 2-months, and 15-month-old Angel.
"Moriah had the little baby girl in her car seat. She ran straight to the house. She was terrified. I was trying to get everybody close together as I could. I just started praying. That first hit, I just felt it," Miller said.
Miller and the family then felt the house shake and rattle. "At that moment, the fear hit me in my heart. I just ran over there and fell down. I was telling somebody earlier, I laid on top of Angel. Moriah had the car seat. Joe was holding his boy leaning up against the wall. I said, 'Joe, get down, get down! He laid flat on the ground. I said put your arms out. I didn't tell everybody to hold hands but I did pray."
"I was just saying it was going to be alright guys, it'll be alright. Just started praying. And boom we just popped out,"
Little Angel was found crying in the field. She would suffer from serious brain injuries and the family ended life support March 4.
"Still just kills me. I don't know why somebody else couldn't make it. Why me?"
Heartbroken and bruised, he's hopeful for a full recovery to get over his scars from the storm, but it's what's on the inside that hurts the most.
"It really didn't hit me until this morning about how you have six people in a house. Only one alive. That little girl. I think everyone was rooting for that little girl to make it," Miller said.
"Whatever the reason, there's a purpose I'm still here."
The family set up a fund to help offset medical expenses. Visit helpjason.org to contribute.
Copyright 2012 WAVE News. All rights reserved.
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