Family deals with life changes after storm

HENDERSON, Tenn.– While most West Tennesseans dream of sugar plums dancing in their heads this Christmas, some still cope with the affects of the major October storm.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Olga passed through several southern counties in West Tennessee, leaving widespread damage and power outages in its wake.

Linda Phillips and her daughter, Christy, now live with major life changes after storms knocked out the power in their home near the McNairy and Chester County line.

“We went to bed, and I didn’t wake up until that Friday morning or Saturday morning,” Christy Phillips said.

“They woke me up on the way to the hospital and said we had carbon monoxide poisoning,” Linda Phillips said.

A family member confirms the two suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning from the generator set up in the home, and that the two were inside for about 13 hours.

“It was really so unreal. I couldn’t believe that we’d been through that,” Linda said.

Since then, the mother and daughter went to Henderson Health and Rehab for around the clock care, along with physical and speech therapy.

“I can tell that I have lost some of my short-term memory, because I can be talking and know what I want to say, but it just slips away,” Linda said.

“It’s really affected me workwise, because I can’t go back to work,” Christy said.

They had other plans for the holiday season, like having family dinner at home, but those plans changed.

Despite these hardships, the family is thankful for the outpouring of support.

“We’ve had a lot of support from our family, our church, and just everyone,” Linda said. “They’ll say ‘We’re praying for you,’ and I’ll say ‘Don’t stop!'”

A family member says that Christy was recently hospitalized for kidney trouble, and Linda saw a heart doctor.