Terre Haute, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Calvin Cox is tough. He survived a tornado that slammed winds of up to 165 miles per hour into his home. Less than 72 hours later, he tripped and broke a hip, while moving the few possession he still owned. Despite everything, his mood remains upbeat.
“It ain’t gonna turn out bad,” Cox said from his hospital bed in Terre Haute a couple of days following surgery. He’s been receiving help from the community in the form of various donations.
We first met Cox the day after a deadly tornado hit Sullivan. As the sun came up on April 1, he and his wife, Kathy, were walking along an empty street in a ravaged neighborhood on the south end of town.
WTWO stopped and asked him, if he would speak about his experience in the storm that claimed three lives in Sullivan County and three lives in Crawford County, IL. Cox said he’d been hit in the head by part of a window.
“The telephone come across just a few minutes before that and said ‘find shelter’, ” Cox said in a Facebook Live interview.
Cox later said he barely had time to get out of bed, when the tornado hit. He lost his home, both his vehicles and many possessions. He did not have insurance on the house.
On the following Monday, April 3, he was moving personal items to a storage unit, when he fell. He explained how the fall broke his hip in the “ball and socket” area.
When asked how he was doing, Cox smiled and replied, “Wonderful, considering the circumstances.”
He was set to be released from the hospital Thursday and has a voucher, so he and his wife can stay in a hotel for the next month. Cox can walk with the help of a walker as his hip heels.
