Helene Victims Who Died Hugging Remembered by Their Daughter

Jerry and Marcia Savage died holding onto one another, tightly, when Hurricane Helene triggered a big pine tree to crush them of their mattress of their Beech Island, S.C. residence, late final week, their daughter says.

“My daddy died a hero as a result of he was making an attempt to save lots of my mother,” Tammy Estep tells PEOPLE.

“Of their ultimate second, that is how they went collectively: hugging, loving one another till that final second of their life,” Estep, 54, continues.

Jerry, 78, and Savage, 74, have been highschool sweethearts who each attended Harriet Tubman Excessive in Augusta, Ga., and acquired married in 1966. The couple shared the identical birthday — Jan. 26 — and died on the identical day. They have been each buried on Saturday afternoon.

“They simply could not be with out one another,” Estep says.

Estep, who lives in Augusta, says she spoke to her mom about 4:30 p.m. native on Thursday, Sept. 26, as Helene was set to make landfall on the coast of northern Florida later that evening.

Marcia requested if she was prepared for the storm and instructed her to maintain a watch out. The storm hit Beech Island — simply throughout the state line from Augusta — round 4 within the morning on Friday, Sept. 27.

“It was simply unreal. And the later it acquired, the more severe it acquired,” says Estep. “And it was identical to — ‘bam, bam, bam,’ bushes falling and it was loopy. No one was anticipating any of this.”

She continues: “My daddy by some means, I do not know if he had an intuition or what, however he would possibly’ve heard a snap. However he was on high of my mama hugging her, making an attempt to guard her.”

Based on the household, an almost 60-foot pine tree fell atop the couple’s one-story residence and smashed via their bed room, touchdown on Marcia’s aspect of the mattress.

The demise toll from Helene has continued to climb within the week because it carved a path of destruction via six states within the Southeast. Greater than 220 folks have been killed, in accordance with officers and information studies.

Estep remembers each of her mother and father as doers: Her father was an electrician who retired a few occasions however stored discovering his approach again to work. He was helpful — with bodywork or with constructing furnishings and cabinetry, and he liked bikes.

“He might construct something,” she says. “He was an all-around fantastic man. He was my buddy.”

Her mom, a homemaker, was a loyal churchgoer and member of the Second Baptist Church, she says.

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“My mama was at that church each time the doorways opened,” Estep says. “She was all the time there for us. She was my finest good friend.”

The couple have been additionally devoted grandparents to 4 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

“They lived for household,” Estep says. “They’re the kindest, sweetest folks you’d ever need to meet.”

To study extra about find out how to assist with aid, restoration and rebuilding efforts from Hurricane Helene, click on right here.