A Blue Ridge couple is recovering from injuries suffered when a tornado hit the family's mobile home. They're also dealing with the death of their newborn killed when she was tossed from the home.
Jose Santillano, 30, and Zuleyma Santillano, 27, survived when the EF0 tornado Dec. 26.
Zuleyma Santillano suffered a broken right leg and deep cuts to her arm and legs, but those injuries will heal.
The loss of their 3-day-old baby Aaleyah will last a lifetime.
"They said, 'We are really sorry, she has passed away. She didn't make it,'" Zuleyma Santillano said.
Jose Santillano rushed his wife and their four kids into a bathroom seconds before the tornado flipped the home over several times.
"About the third time it did that, I just felt something just pull me off of there, just suck me in," Jose Santillano said. "I was in the tornado."
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He said the whole thing lasted less than a minute.
He rushed back to their crushed mobile home with Zuleyma Santillano and three kids stuck inside.
Baby Aaleyah was no where to be found.
"Didn't have my baby on my arms anymore, didn't know where she was at," Zuleyma Santillano said.
Crying guided Jose Santillano to the baby, who was found lying on the ground feet from the family's home.
"I picked her up, held her to my chest and she was still alive," Jose Santillano said, through tears.
A neighbor rushed the baby to an ambulance, but her injuries were too severe to overcome.
"They did everything they could," Jose Santillano said, "but they couldn't save her."
Now, still healing themselves, the Santillanos say they're finding strength from their neighbors and the children who survived the storm.
"I have to make it for them. I'm hurting, yes, but I have to figure it out how to make it," Zuleyma Santillano said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Santillanos.
Donations can also be made to First Baptist Church, 316 Highway 78 North, Blue Ridge, TX 75424.
