SEEKING HEALING

Wounds remain 6 months after explosion; holidays can worsen trauma for families

POTTSTOWN >> Six months ago, on a warm Thursday evening, May 26, an explosion rocked the 400 block of Hale Street and everything changed.

It was 8:07 p.m. when the home at 453 Hale St. erupted in a blast that shook buildings more than a mile away, obliterating the structure and the attached twin at 455 Hale St. Five people were killed instantly — Francine White, 67; Alana Wood, 13; Jeremiah White, 12; Nehemiah White,

Tristan White, 8.

Eugene White, 44, and Kristina Matuzsan, 32, survived and face the heart-breaking prospect of living without loved ones.

Three days later, the community mourned collectively in a parking lot at Pottstown High School. Recently, 10; and

approaching the six-month mark, the extended White family was joined at a Bethel Community Church of Pottstown memorial service, again by an empathetic community seeking to ease their pain through the comfort of shared condolences.

Pushing through the disbelief

The impact and response to this tragedy stretches well beyond one family and one street.

“We have to think about this like a community. In a lot of ways, we suffered collective trauma,” said Jena Ostrowski, a Pottstown native who, in addition to being an EMT in the borough, is also a licensed clinical social worker and director of Family and Community Justice Services at Creative Health Services.

“This was literally a shock to our entire community,” Ostrowski said. “No one ever thinks something like this is going to happen. It’s like it isn’t real,” she said, while praising those who pushed through their disbelief and began helping.

That collective trauma doesn’t go away in a day or two, as was clear in September when about 30 people from the neighborhood attended a crisis intervention session Creative Health and the Montgomery County Office of Mental Health held at the YMCA. There people talked about how they can’t feel safe in their homes, how small things like fireworks or the telephone ringing can have an outsized impact on their state of mind.

“You don’t always know what is going to trigger that feeling in the

pit of your stomach or make your palms start to sweat,” Ostrowski said.

“Science has proven that trauma affects your brain. Not everyone gets PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), but many can have PTSD-like symptoms, like having nightmares, trouble sleeping, losing their appetite or withdrawing from friends and activities,” Ostrowski said. “We can teach people to manage these symptoms, but it takes time and practice.”

Effect on first responders

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO Saturday evening, the site of the Hale Street home explosion still looked much as it did six months ago.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO At center, from left, Aiden Coles, 11, Coney Brown, 11, and Staten Brown, 12, with the picture boards they brought to the prayer service in memory of their friends who died.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTO Two days after the explosion, a crowd of several hundred gathered at Pottstown High School and joined in prayer for the victims.