Tornado hurls family tent 30ft…with three children still inside it
A FAMILY’S tent was lifted ten feet off the ground and carried 30 feet across a campsite by a mini-tornado – with three children still inside it.
Their terrified parents watched as the tent flew across a field in the Lake District leaving a trail of clothes and furniture before crashing against a fence.
Steve Gardner, 42, and his wife Gail, 41, rushed over to find the shell- shocked youngsters – Oliver, ten, Kate, eight, and Lily, two – lying battered and bruised.
None was seriously injured, though Kate had to be kept in hospital for 24 hours and Lily had to be monitored for suspected bleeding on the brain. She was released from hospital three days later.
The children had been asleep and their parents were just outside the eight-man tent when the twister struck. The family were on a week-long holiday in the dramatic Langdale valley where Mr and Mrs Gardner had spent a sleepless night battling to secure their tent as the tail end of Hurricane Bertha swept through.
At 7am the wind appeared to die down enough for the couple to venture out and put the kettle on.
Mr Gardner, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, said: ‘ Suddenly Gail said she saw this thing coming down the hill, she said a line of trees were going crazy but everything else around it was per- fectly still. The next thing I knew it just picked up the tent. The entire tent spun over itself high in the air, unbelievably fast, it blew around 30 feet before the lower section crashed into a
‘Almost like a plane crash’
barbed wire fence. The half still in the air ripped free and was just twisting in the air, spilling tables, a camping wardrobe, fleeces and beds as it went.’
The frantic couple ran over and began to search the mess for their children.
Mr Gardner said: ‘It was a complete twisted wreck, almost like a plane crash, with our things lying everywhere.
‘It was completely silent, the wind had just stopped and I was just listening for the children. I honestly thought they were dead.
‘Oliver was upside down and his face was white and his mouth covered in blood, he was just staring and mouthing something, I thought he was paralysed.’
‘After untwisting more material we found Kate. Her eyes were open but she didn’t seem to be conscious, it was horrendous. Once we had found those two we heard crying from further inside and found Lily in her cot. She was looking round terrified, one eye was shut with blood around it.’
The family were taken to Lancaster Hospital where Oliver was found to be bruised but had avoided any breaks. Kate was kept under observation for 24 hours with concussion. Doctors feared Lily had bleeding on the brain and she was kept in hospital for three days.
Mr Gardner added: ‘It was a frightening ordeal. The power of the weather is quite incredible.’