A Tennessee boy is fighting for his life after being sucked down a drain while playing in tornado and storm debris.
Asher Sullivan, 9, was involved in the tragic accident in Murfreesboro on Wednesday evening when he was “swept beneath the streets of the neighborhood.”
His father, Rutherford County Schools Superintendent Jimmy Sullivan, said on Facebook that “CPR was administered for a considerable period of time,” which restored his heartbeat but left the boy in critical condition.
Jimmy said his son is hospitalized at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, where his “lungs are severely damaged and he doesn’t have much brain activity other than twitching.”
Asher Sullivan, 9, is fighting for his life after being sucked down a drain while playing in tornado and storm debris Wednesday night
The boy’s father, Rutherford County School Principal Jimmy Sullivan (right), said his son’s lungs are severely damaged and he doesn’t show much brain activity other than twitching.
The area around Murfreesboro, Tennessee saw severe flooding after a storm and tornado ripped through the area, and Asher played in the rubble before the tragedy unfolded.
The horror unfolded as the nine-year-old played with other neighborhood children in the aftermath of a tornado and severe storm that ripped through the Tennessee area earlier this week, killing three people.
As neighbors worked together to clean up the damage, Asher’s father said that “somehow it ended up in the storm drain and was swept under the streets of the neighborhood.”
Asher “eventually” ended up in a drainage ditch, he said, along with another boy who also lives on his street, eighth-grader Madden Moltz.
While Madden is expected to recover, Asher must continue to fight for his life, according to a social media post from the local Priest Lake Presbyterian Church.
Amid the outpouring of support for the family, locals said the family’s struggle comes as Asher’s older brother, Declan, battled leukemia for four years before beating the disease in 2022.
A local mother also shared patches made by a friend of Asher’s to give to local children, showing their support for the boy that read “Sullivan Strong.”
In an email to parents in the school district shared online, an official said all Rutherford County schools had to be closed Thursday due to the extent of the damage.
“You will also hear that our school principal’s son was involved in an accident during the storm tonight,” the email continued.
‘He is stable but critical and will receive medical treatment tonight. We ask that you please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Locals have sent an outpouring of support to Asher’s family following the accident, saying their suffering comes as Asher’s older brother, Declan, (pictured with their family) battled leukemia for four years before contracting the disease 2022 defeated.
A local mother also shared patches made by a friend of Asher’s to give to local children, showing their support for the boy, that read “Sullivan Strong.”
Storm damage was seen across Tennessee on Thursday after a weather system ripped through the state earlier this week
John Bernhardt, a Tennessee resident, searches for his belongings outside his stormed, damaged home Thursday
The damage Asher played in was caused by a tornado and a massive storm that ripped through Tennessee, North Carolina and Michigan this week.
Three people were killed when the tornado and severe storm blew through the area, flattening homes and knocking out power to millions of people.
One video showed large hailstones hitting vehicles and homes near Fire Station 1 in downtown Clarksville, on the Tennessee-Kentucky border.
Other videos showed trees toppled by high winds and cars wading through inches of water that had collected on roads.
The sheriff’s office in Claiborne County, about an hour north of Knoxville, said one of the victims was a 22-year-old man in a car that was fatally struck by one of the trees.
A second person was killed in the city of Columbia in Maury County, also in Tennessee, and the weather front is expected to cause further damage on Thursday.
The National Weather Service continued to issue tornado warnings extending past midnight in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky, and parts of Arkansas and Mississippi.