Miles from her collapsed home, flood victim’s sonograms of son found on Connecticut beach

Devastated after her house collapsed following Sunday’s attacks deadly floods in connecticutRandi Marcucio received good news this week that warmed her heart and eased her despair.

Ultrasound scans of the single mother’s now 3-year-old son, who was washed away in the swollen creek next to her Oxford home, were found about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away on a beach in Westport and returned to her Wednesday.

“Honestly, it felt like I was holding a piece of my heart, a piece of my soul,” Marcucio, an emergency room nurse, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday night. “When you see pictures of your child in your womb and you have such a great loss, there are no words. I don’t know how to describe it.”

A stranger, Nancy Lewis, was walking along Compo Beach in Westport with a friend on Monday when she saw what looked like a photo in the water. She picked it up and saw that it contained two ultrasound images on a single piece of paper with Marcucio’s name on it.

She looked up the name and was heartbroken when she saw the news about Marcucio’s house collapsing. Lewis contacted WVIT-TV, which recorded Lewis’ meeting with Marcucio at the collapsed house to give her the ultrasounds.

“I saw the devastation and read your story — a single mother, an emergency room nurse,” Lewis told Marcucio. “I thought you were someone who always took care of other people and I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do for you, beyond this little ultrasound I found.”

Marcucio looked at the ultrasound images and held them against her heart.

“He is. Thank you,” Marcucio said before hugging Lewis. “That’s incredible. What are the chances?”

Oxford is an inland city along the Housatonic River, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of where the river empties into Long Island Sound between Stratford and Milford. It is another 15 miles (24 kilometers) west to Compo Beach. The creek next to Marcucio’s house flows into the Housatonic.

When a foot or more of rain fell Sunday, the normally placid creek turned into a raging river, washing away much of the land beneath Marcucio’s home. Her son, Rhylee, was staying with her parents at the time. Marcucio left her home and spent the night with a neighbor.

The house she bought on Mother’s Day two years ago collapsed the next day. A neighbor filmed the moment when Marcucio was not there.

She considers herself lucky. The storm devastated nearby towns, washed away bridges, flooded homes and businesses, and led to numerous rescues. Two women died after being swept away by floodwaters in separate incidents elsewhere in Oxford.

Marcucio is overwhelmed by the support from so many people, in the city and across the country. A GoFundMe page has raised about $157,000 for her and her son. A developer is letting them stay in one of his apartments for a year. Donations of clothing and food have poured in. She said she wants to thank so many people, including local construction workers and Oxford public works crews.

Marcucio said she spoke with an insurance agent and that the chances of her home’s destruction being covered by her policy seem slim. Her home wasn’t in a flood zone and she didn’t have flood insurance, or think she needed it. Most of the land her home was on is gone, so she doesn’t think she can rebuild. She hasn’t had much time to think about the future.

The ultrasounds were not in a box or plastic bag. They were among the few possessions she was able to recover. She did not think the house would collapse and did not believe she should remove important items. But she did bring out her son’s teddy bear the night before. Priceless mementos of her mother, who died when she was 12, are gone, including a hairbrush and a bottle of perfume.

“Unfortunately, there’s been loss of life in my community, so I can’t complain about the tangible things that have been lost,” she told AP. “The support from the community just helps me move forward. I haven’t really had time to process or grieve. It’s just survival mode and stuff right now.”