Tornado survivor Cindy Busick, with her eyes black and blue from her brush with death, could barely talk about her experience Tuesday without getting choked up.
The Sanford woman was home alone when a tornado packing winds higher than 140 mph destroyed her 4,500-square-foot home Saturday.
Busick rode out the storm in a bathtub, which was found 75 yards away under some debris.
Her friend rescued her. Matt Cass, who lives four miles away, said he got a phone call from Busick's cellphone, but couldn’t hear her voice.
"We could here the wind in the phone. I knew something was wrong," Cass said.
Cass said he jumped in his truck, drove to Busick's house and began frantically searching for her. He stepped on a nail that went through his foot, but didn't stop.
"I heard her screaming, 'Help me!'" he said.
Cass said he found her buried under dry wall and other debris along with her dog, clutching her cellphone.
The body of neighbor who lived across the street from Busick was found about 100 yards away from his mobile home.
"I wish someone could tell me (how I made it). It’s a miracle. I don’t know. I don’t know," Busick said.
The National Weather Service said at least 25 tornadoes touched down, making it the state's most active outbreak on record.
In total, the tornadoes killed 23 people in North Carolina. The latest victim, an infant, died on Tuesday.
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