ATLANTA — The teenager who survived a tornado that threw him hundreds of feet from his Henry County home wants to see what he survived.
Malachi Chaney hit a milestone on Friday, graduating from inpatient therapy at the Shepherd Center.
Friday was also the first time he’s spoken publicly since surviving that direct tornado hit.
Doctors at the Shepherd Center have been treating Malachi for a spinal injury and a traumatic brain injury.
He arrived at the center 10 days ago. Before then, he was in the Intensive Care Unit at Grady Memorial Hospital. The tornado hit his home on May 29.
The storm tossed his father and threw Malachi hundreds of feet into the woods. Both were hospitalized, but he was hurt the worst with broken bones in his face, chest and spine.
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Doctors told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco that Malachi has recovered faster than they expected.
“I will never ever take life for granted again. Being alive has been like the greatest blessing. I feel like, knowing that all this is real, being able to do what I always used to do, wake up in the morning, watch TV,” Malachi said.
He told Francisco that he knows the tornado destroyed his home, and he’s ready to see what he survived.
“I can’t really say I’m sad. I’ve really just been grateful to be living. And I just can’t wait to … I know my parents have been talking about to go visit my home because I heard it’s still destroyed. They’re trying to clean it up, but I hear my home is like finding out it was the only home in the neighborhood that was destroyed, that it’s a tourist site now,” Malachi said.
Malachi will now move to the apartments connected to the Shepherd Center and will continue physical therapy, but will be able to come and go as he pleases.
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