A son has revealed the last few texts between him and his mom before a tornado destroyed the factory where she worked.
Jill Monroe was working at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky on Friday night when she told her son that she was taking shelter in the bathroom and was scared.
As a mom she was concerned for the welfare of her son and wanted to warn him. The 52-year-old had just moved to Kentucky and was working at the candle factory Friday night when the tornado hit.
Jill had also sent a text to her sister Heather McFuggin.
“She had sent me a text at 9:27 Friday night that she was taking shelter in the bathroom, and that the storms were bad, and for us to stay aware here,” said Heather, as per WLKY News.
Her son Chris Chism said his mom said over text: “It’s here. It’s bad and I’m scared.”
He then spent the evening texting with his mom but suddenly she stopped responding and he spent the next few hours in agony wondering what had happened.
“I called 43 times. From the moment we found out until that next morning when her phone died,” Chris said, as per the news station.
When it was safe to leave the house, Chris and his wife Paige drove over to the candle factory, only to find that it had been leveled by the tornado.
Mayfield, Kentucky, home to 10,000 people and the candle factory, was one of the hardest hit by the tornadoes which also tore through Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee Friday night and early Saturday morning.
At least 88 people were killed, including 74 in Kentucky where there are still at least 100 people missing.
At the site of the candle factory where more than 100 workers were working on holiday orders when the tornado hit, Chris wasn’t allowed too close to the factory which had been reduced to rubble.
He said he eventually got in touch with his mom’s co-worker and friend, and learned his mother spent her final moments helping her coworkers to safety.
“She said, ‘the last time I saw your mom, she ran into the last stall and took a bunch of people in there with her and we all laid down and tried to hold on,’ and she said that’s the last time I saw her,” Chris said.
On Sunday afternoon, Chris was told by the coroner’s office that his mother was one of the eight people who died in the candle factory.
“You know, you don’t really ever think that anything bad is actually going to happen,” he said. “It’s tough. Very, very tough.”
Since then, all workers have been accounted for.
A GoFundMe set up to help ease the financial burden on her son and father to Jill’s grandson has so far raised more than $2,000.
My heart goes out to Jill’s family and all the other families that have lost loved ones. May they rest in peace. Please share.
