A Tennessee boy is fighting for his life after being swept down a drain while playing in the debris of a tornado and storm.
Asher Sullivan, 9, was involved in Wednesday night’s tragic accident in Murfreesboro, when he was “swept under the streets of the neighborhood.”
His father, Rutherford County School Superintendent Jimmy Sullivan, said on facebook that “CPR was administered for quite some time,” which restored his heartbeat but left the boy in critical condition.
Jimmy said his son is hospitalized at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, where his “lungs are severely damaged and he’s not showing much brain activity other than muscle spasms.”
Asher Sullivan, 9, is fighting for his life after being swept down a drain while playing in the debris of a tornado and storm Wednesday night.
The boy’s father, Rutherford County School Superintendent Jimmy Sullivan (right), said his son’s “lungs are severely damaged and he is not showing much brain activity outside of muscle spasms.”
The Murfreesboro, Tennessee area suffered severe flooding after a storm and tornado hit the area, and Asher was playing in the debris before tragedy unfolded.
The horror unfolded as the nine-year-old boy played with other neighborhood children after a tornado and severe storm ripped through the Tennessee area earlier this week, killing three.
As neighbors rallied to clean up the damage, Asher’s father said, “somehow, (he) got caught in the storm drain and was swept under the neighborhood streets.”
Asher “finally” turned up in a drainage ditch, he said, along with another boy who also lives on his street, eighth-grader Madden Moltz.
While Madden is expected to recover, according to a social media post from the local Priest Lake Presbyterian Church, Asher has had to fight for his life.
Amid outpouring support for the family, locals said the family’s fight comes as Asher’s older brother Declan had been battling leukemia for four years before beating the disease in 2022.
A local mother also shared patches made by a friend of Asher’s to give to local children, indicating her support for the boy, which read “Sullivan Strong.”
In an email to school district parents shared online, an official said all Rutherford County schools would close Thursday due to the extent of the damage.
“You will also hear that our school principal’s son was involved in an accident tonight during the storm,” the email continued.
“He is stable but critical and is receiving medical treatment tonight. We ask that you keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.”
Locals sent an outpouring of support to Asher’s family after the accident and said their suffering is because Asher’s older brother Declan (pictured with his family) had been battling leukemia for four years before beat the disease in 2022.
A local mother also shared patches made by a friend of Asher’s to give to local children, indicating her support for the boy, which read “Sullivan Strong.”
Storm damage was seen in Tennessee on Thursday after a weather system swept through the state earlier in the week.
Tennessee resident John Bernhardt searches for his belongings outside his home damaged by the break-in Thursday.
The damage Asher was playing in was caused by a tornado and major storm that hit Tennessee, North Carolina and Michigan this week.
Three people died when the tornado and severe storm hit the area, leveling homes and leaving millions without power.
Video showed large hail hitting vehicles and homes in the vicinity of Fire Station 1 in downtown Clarksville, which sits on the Tennessee-Kentucky border.
Other videos showed trees blown down by strong winds and cars wading through inches of water that had collected on roads.
The sheriff of Claiborne County, which is about an hour north of Knoxville, said one of the victims was a 22-year-old man who was traveling in a car and was fatally struck by one of the trees.
A second person died in the town of Columbia in Maury County, also in Tennessee, and the weather front is expected to cause more damage on Thursday.
The National Weather Service continued to issue tornado warnings extending past midnight in North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Kentucky, and parts of Arkansas and Mississippi.
