A woman who lost her leg in an Iowa building collapse has shared her harrowing story of how she survived by shielding her head and face and walking away from dripping water to avoid to drown.
Quanishia ‘Peach’ White Berry and his wife Lexus were in their six-story building on May 28 when they noticed cracks starting to form on their windows.
Talk to CNNshe said, “Imagine hearing a building being torn down, that’s how it sounded when it all fell down – and I fell down.”
After six hours under the rubble, Berry said she remembered thinking, “I have to make it happen, especially for her. I have to survive this, I have to be able to tell this story.
Berry said she had gallons of water pouring over her from pipes and she used pieces of rubble to cover her face from drowning.
Quanishia White Berry, right, and his wife Lexus, left, were in their apartment in Davenport when the building collapsed
An aerial view shows part of a six-story building after the collapse
Berry said: “I have gallons of water pouring all over me, I’m soaked in metal all over.” I took pieces of soil and covered my head so as not to drown.
After hours of rescuers heading towards her, rescue teams had to amputate her leg at the scene.
Dr. Calvin Atwell, a trauma surgeon at Genesis Medical Center in Davenport, said CNN: ‘She was losing a lot of blood from her right leg and you could see an open wound.
“We crawled in there and put a tourniquet on that leg and they were working vigorously to clear that leg.”
After realizing they couldn’t free him, Atwell performed an above-knee amputation with a knife and power saw in the ruined building as members of the search and rescue team brought to light the procedure.
He continued, “When she wasn’t responding, we just made a decision: get her out of here.
“We knew she had been trapped for six hours and we knew she wasn’t going to survive much longer.”
On her recovery, she said: ‘I’m looking forward to healing and getting good treatment, good care.
“I can already see myself walking. I don’t feel stopped in any way.
Horrifying surveillance captured at the scene shows the building completely collapsing in on itself.
Puffs of dust can be seen pouring from the building seconds before it pours.
Three people were killed and dozens of apartments were destroyed when the building partially collapsed.
Branden Colvin Sr., 42, Ryan Hitchcock, 51, and Daniel Prien, 60, were reportedly at home during the collapse and were reported missing after initial rescues.
Earlier this week, city police chief Jeff Bladel said there was currently no information on any other missing persons.
In the meantime, the first lawsuit against the city and the owner of the building has already been filed.
The bodies of Branden Colvin Sr., 42, Ryan Hitchcock, 51, and Daniel Prien, 60, were found nearly a week after the building collapsed.
Children draw on the ground with chalk at the places where the building partially collapsed last month
Governor Kim Reynolds, center, talks to local officials during a tour of the site of the building’s collapse on Monday
Earlier this week, city police chief Jeff Bladel said there was currently no information on any other missing persons.
In the meantime, the first lawsuit against the city and the owner of the building has already been filed.
Tenant Dayna Feuerbach has accused the city of Davenport, as well as the building’s current and former owners, of multiple counts of negligence, saying they were aware of the deteriorating conditions and failed to warn residents of the risk.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and notes that additional lawsuits are likely.
Berry and his wife Lexus also filed a similar lawsuit against the city after their horrific ordeal.
Mayor Mike Matson said Monday that neither he nor other city officials have been in contact with building owner Andrew Wold.
On May 30, Wold released a statement saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants.” He has not released any other statement since.
County records show Davenport Hotel LLC acquired the building in 2021 for $4.2 million.
Chief Bladel said the Davenport Fire Marshal’s Office has begun an investigation into the building collapse with assistance from the state Criminal Investigation Division, Davenport Police and the Medical Examiner’s Office. .
The building, built as a hotel in 1907, had been converted into around 80 apartments which housed around 50 people.
