Megan Roche
Staff Writer

@MeganAnne2013

Tornados were roaring towards Jeffrey Hunter’s apartment and he knew that this was the end. Hunter did one last thing before his tragic death, he texted his mother his goodbyes.

Jeffrey Hunter was a senior at University of Central Arkansas, hiding in a bathroom in Vilonia, Arkansas when he texted his mom, who lived 20 miles away.

“First he said, ‘Mama, I’m so scared,” Regina Wood, Hunter’s mother said, “He knew how bad it was, they say it was going to be a direct hit.”

Hunter did what any child should do, sent her two final texts. “Goodbye mama…” and “It’s heading right for me.”

Courtesy of OKC FOX

All his mother could do was update her son through texts about what the EF-4 tornado was heading and try her hardest to reassure him that he would be okay.

“I kept saying, ‘Are you OK? Are you OK? Let me know. Let me know.’ and I got no answer” his mother said.

A neighbor, Lyman Watkins, lives near where Hunter was hiding with his father and stepmother, crawled out of the closet he was hiding in with his wife and five dogs.

“All I could hear were horns going off and people hollering ‘Help, Help,’” Watkins said

After crawling out of the rubble, Watkins found Hunter lying unconscious on the ground. Both Hunter’s father and stepmother survived but they are seriously injured.

Though Regina lost her only son, she takes comfort in knowing that despite his fear, he made sure to say good-bye to his mom.

“That was the most precious thing a son could do for a mother.”

At least 15 people were killed in Arkansas from tornadoes, with 37 total deaths in eight states from the worst tornado outbreak so far this year.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those in Arkansas.
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