A sixteen-year-old boy from Elgin, Texas gave thanks to God for giving him another chance in life after surviving a tornado that threw him and his truck like paper.
Faithwire reported that Riley Leon miraculously escaped from a violent tornado on Monday while driving home from a job interview at Whataburger. Leon did not sustain any injuries, only a couple of scratches when his red 2004 Chevrolet Silverado crossed the path of the tornado. He credited his safety to God.
"(I'm) grateful I'm here. I'm grateful God gave me another chance, because better things are gonna come in the future. Never let small things bring you down, because bigger things are gonna come," Leon told KTBC-TV.
Leon revealed in the interview that he is still shocked by what happened. The teenager also said the incident left him speechless and taught him to heed warnings, especially when it comes to the weather. He admitted ignoring the inclement weather warning and pushed through in driving his truck. Leon stressed he never expected what happened could ever really occur to him.
"If there's going to be bad weather, stay home. No matter how important the thing is to you, stay home. Your life, your life matters more than other stuff," Leon said.
What happened to Leon was captured in a video by triple Emmy awardee and storm chaser Brian Emfinger who happened to be driving on the opposite side of the road that day. The video has gone viral with 98,200 views. The video showed the tornado violently throwing into mid-air everything that was on its path. It caused electrical posts on the highway to flare up, such that the moving vehicle infront of Emfinger's opted to stop to the side of the road with hazard lights on.
A closeup of the video would show that, on the other side of the road, the Chevrolet chose otherwise. The tornado then flipped the 2.5-ton truck onto its rights side before it was spun around in 360 degrees. In seconds, the truck was violently flipped back upright and Leon got to drive away.
Emfinger expressed his disbelief at what he witnessed in the caption of the video. He said he couldn't believe the Chevrolet got to drive away after a mobile home was turned into debris by the tornado earlier. The Babylon Bee Managing Editor Joel Berry, after watching the video and uploading a closeup view of it, kidded that the footage could be used by Chevrolet as its commercial.
Marcus Reynolds, another storm chaser, also witnessed the incident and assisted Leon immediately after it. Reynolds said Leon was indeed in shock when he got to him. He offered Leon to use his mobile phone so he could call his family. Coincidentally, Leon's parents saw Emfinger's video and were quick to identify the truck and their son.
"That's when I called my mom and my dad, and they're like, 'Are you OK?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, but my truck is gone,'" Leon recalled.
According to Leon, the truck had sentimental value to him and his family. The truck has been helping him and his father achieve their current status in life ever since her little sister was born. It came as no surprise that he cried as soon as he realized the extent of the truck's damage from the tornado.
