An Illinois man is using his personal tragedy to ensure that others don’t suffer the way he has after a tornado ripped through his home last April and killed his wife.
The twister struck April 9, 2015, while 85-year-old Clem Schultz was in an upstairs bedroom in Fairdale, getting lanterns for what he was sure would simply be a loss of power amid tornado warnings, according to the Daily Herald.
He looked out the window and spotted the tornado looming in the distance. Assuming it would stay to the south, he began to record the storm on his cellphone, Schultz told the Herald.
But the tornado grew closer, and by the time he realized his house was in its path, it was too late to go downstairs and join his wife Geri in the kitchen. The tornado tore through his home, and he suffered serious injuries.
A neighbor dug him out of the rubble, telling him not to look down, the Herald reported.
"Why?" Schultz asked.
"Because your wife is right under you. She’s dead," the neighbor responded.
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Nearly a year later, Schultz released the video he shot that day, as a warning to others.
The video, shared by a meteorology student studying the tornado, begins with a word of caution.
"PLEASE do not attempt to video or take photos of a tornado as it approaches your location. PLEASE follow National Weather Service warning advice: 'Move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If in a mobile home, a vehicle, or outdoors, moe to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.'"
The video then cuts to footage of the twister bearing down, moving closer to the camera and destroying everything in its path.
Schultz shared video of the tornado that forever changed his life with the intention of saving others from his tragedy.
"I'm proud of it," Schultz told the Daily Herald. "My video is saving lives."
