The only thing that was able to take Jesse Benward-Souza from his loving “gram” was Hurricane Debby, that ripped through his great grandparent’s Florida home and claimed his young life.
“Nobody took him away from gram,” a grieving cousin says of the 13-year-old boy who was playing video games just moments before he was killed.
Keep reading to learn about the tragic death of this eighth-grader.
About 7 a.m. on August 5, Hurricane Debby made landfall about 40 miles west of Fanning Springs, where Jesse Benward-Souza, a 13-year-old lived with his great grandparents, Beverly and John Benward, in their mobile home.
The menacing category 1 hurricane slammed Florida’s Gulf Cost with torrential rain, high winds, and catastrophic flooding, claiming lives along the way.
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Despite evacuation orders, many residents, like the 74-year-old Benwards, decided to ride out the storm.
According to FOX Weather, winds in the area were estimated to be around 80 mph at the time.
Amanda Daniels, Jesse’s cousin, tells the outlet that about 8 a.m., the young teenager was sitting on the living room couch playing video games while his “pop was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper and eating, and Gram was in her bedroom watching TV.”
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Daniels tells NBC affiliate WESH that the table her grandfather was sitting “was just feet away from Jesse.”
Next describing the terrifying events that followed, Daniels explains that a deafening bang filled the small home.
‘Still felt warm’
“Gram ran out of her room, screaming into the living room,” where she discovered a tree crashed through the home and landed “right where Jesse was sitting.”
“She immediately found herself clawing through the storm debris that had buried Jesse,” Daniels says.
The only thing she could see were Jesse’s legs, the rest of his body buried by debris.
“She said [Jesse’s legs] still felt warm,” a teary-eyed Daniels tells FOX Weather. “It just happened within like seconds.”
Once emergency officials arrived, the woman says it took five hours to lift the huge tree from Jesse’s lifeless body.
“Pop still blames himself for Debby not taking him instead,” the cousin shares. “Not only did they lose their grandson that they’ve been raising right in front of their eyes, they lost their home.”
‘Help them rebuild’
Now Beverly and John are faced with the heartbreaking task of burying the boy they raised for almost 10 years.
“He would not leave my gram’s side,” Daniels, told FOX Weather. “He always wanted to sleep in bed with her. That was his Gram. Nobody took him away from gram.”
Nobody except Debby.
Describing Jesse as an energetic eighth-grader, Daniels pleads with the public to support her grandparents.
“I am asking for a donation of any amount to help them bury my cousin and start to rebuild their home,” she writes in a GoFundMe campaign, that as of Thursday raised about $2,600 of its $10,000 goal. “They are currently living in a trailer with no running water or ability to cook a meal. Thank you in advance for any donation you can provide as we help them rebuild.”
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