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Tornado victim has long road to recovery

It was a year ago on Monday that Danny Strother’s life was changed forever.

Strother, his now-fiancée Christie Matthews and her two children were inside their Hickory Fork Road home when winds from the April 16, 2011 devastated the rental home, spinning it several times and bringing it to rest against a line of trees toward the rear of the property.

After sustaining injuries from being pinned under debris, Strother was left paralyzed from the chest down, but said he still has much to be thankful for.

Strother, who had only been home from work a couple of hours, was asleep in bed when he heard Matthews and her children calling for him. "By the time I sat up in bed, it was too late," Strother said.

Right after the tornado hit, Strother said he remembers hearing some guys outside hollering, asking if anyone was inside the destroyed home. The next thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital bed several weeks later.

Matthews, who was also hospitalized wi...

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