Latest news with #LocustGrove
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The Wire actor Tray Chaney shares tearful update after his teen son was carried away by a tornado
The Wire actor Tray Chaney shared an update on his son Malachi's condition after the 19-year-old was carried away by a tornado that swept through their home on May 29. Chaney, who played Malik 'Poot' Carr on the acclaimed HBO series, revealed last week that a tornado had destroyed his family's home in Locust Grove, Georgia — near Atlanta — while he was in bed. Malachi was sucked into the vortex and brutally thrown 300ft away from the home — about the length of an American football field — while his father was knocked unconscious before emerging from the wreckage of his home, which was totally destroyed and had collapsed around him. Luckily, his son survived, but the college student suffered devastating injuries, including broken ribs, multiple scratches over most of his body and fractures on every bone in his face. But Chaney shared a positive update with TMZ on Wednesday, and he revealed that his son was in stable condition and had finally been moved to a less-severe unit after spending six days in the hospital intensive care unit (ICU). 'But it's going to be a long journey and a long road to recovery. We're not out of the hospital,' he said. Chaney added defiantly, 'We went to war with a tornado and came out on top,' while noting that everyone in the house could have been killed in the natural disaster. While Malachi is dealing with lacerations across his upper body, his lower body miraculously escaped without any major cuts, as he had been wearing sweat pants when he was pulled into the air. Chaney added that he had suffered a head injury after the house fell down around him, so he regained consciousness only to find the wreckage of the destroyed home on top of him while he was lying in the mud. Neighbors rushed to help him and pull debris off him, but once he was able to look through the home he found nothing in useable condition, except for his cell phone, which miraculously survived in workable condition. It wasn't initially clear where Malachi was, as he had been tossed into the woods near their home by the deadly winds. 'We went through war with a tornado, you know?' Chaney said in the interview. 'The tough part is watching [Malachi] be stable and respond the best way he can. And every single day, he doesn't know what happened.' Malachi's hospital stay coincided with his birthday on June 1. Although Chaney and his family could only have a muted celebration for his son in the hospital, he shared a special message that Shaquille O'Neal had recorded to wish him a happy birthday. Malachi avoided cuts to his lower body because he was wearing sweatpants when he was swept away and thrown the length of a football field into the woods near his house View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tray Chaney (@traychaneyvision) The actor looked back on the devastating tornado — which was later determined to be an EF-2 level storm — and admitted that he didn't realize there was a tornado heading toward them until he heard what sounded like a 'train was coming' while he was in bed. 'I just remember turning to my right and my walls, and my TVs and my dressers and my bed turned upside down and I levitated in the air,' Chaney said as he began to tear up. 'I just remember covering [my face with my arms] like this, yelling my son's name out.' Luckily, Chaney's wife Ayesha wasn't home at the time of the tornado, but she returned shortly after it hit to find the destruction. Chaney added that he wasn't sure what the future held for his family now that their home had been destroyed and their lives had been shaken up. 'It's only six days. Me, my wife Ayesha and my son Malachi, [we've] got a long — we're got a lifetime to go because I don't know what's ... coming, and I'm not trying to figure it out,' he said. The family have since set up a GoFundMe page to help them rebuild while they stay alternate staying with friends and in hotels or shelters. As of Wednesday evening, the fundraiser was only about $1,500 shy of reaching its initial $100,000 goal.
The Independent
30-05-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
‘The Wire' star's son found unconscious after being thrown 300 feet during a tornado
The son of 'The Wire' star Tray Chaney was found unconscious after he was thrown around 300 feet during a tornado in Georgia on Thursday. Chaney, known for his role as Poot on the HBO show, appeared emotional in a video posted on Instagram while standing beside what remains of his now leveled home. He told fans: 'Cherish life as much as you can.' Chaney's son was in critical condition on Friday morning, according to 11Alive. 'At 3 o'clock today, in a split second, my house is gone,' Chaney said. The actor said his son 'was thrown 300 feet out his room.' Thursday started as a 'beautiful day' for Chaney and his 18-year-old son, Malachi Chaney, the actor said. That changed in an instant when a tornado ripped through Chaney's neighborhood in Locust Grove, about 40 minutes southeast of Atlanta. 'I was sitting on my bed and I heard the wind and I felt everything,' he added. In a follow-up post, Chaney wrote he 'was unconscious on the ground with my face in the mud with my parts of my house on top of me. I woke up in a panic crawled from under my house screaming my son's name out.' Chaney said his neighbors helped find his son who was found knocked out in the woods behind his house. Chaney told 11Alive his son is in the intensive care unit in hospital with broken ribs and a fractured facial bone. 'Malachi is in this hospital fighting & me and my wife have not and will not leave his side. I can't get myself together right now I wish it was me that was in ICU rather than him,' Chaney wrote on Instagram. The tornado damaged at least 13 structures, and destroyed two, including Chaney's home, local news reported.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
This man says he's very much alive, but Social Security says no. This is the headache he's endured
John Reed wants everyone to know he is not dead. 'Anybody listening out there, John H. Reed III is alive,' the Locust Grove resident told Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray. But Reed has been officially dead as far as the federal government is concerned since early April. That means his bank, credit cards, and even health insurance all think he is dead, too. 'I found out I was dead by a letter I received on the 8th of April, a condolences letter from my insurance company, and then that was followed by a letter from Social Security,' Reed said. That Social Security letter announced his benefits were cut off. On his most recent trip to the doctor, Reed was told his insurance was canceled. 'I presented my Blue Cross Blue Shield card and my Medicare card, A and B, and they told me I wasn't in the system,' he said. It all comes back to the death master file that the Social Security Administration maintains. Reed was, for some reason, listed as dead there, and that was communicated to places like banks and credit cards. RELATED STORIES: 'Emergency message' orders Social Security withhold 50% of benefits for those who were overpaid Social Security Administration to require in-person identity checks for new and existing recipients Social Security resumes what it once called 'clawback cruelty' Social Security Fairness Act signed into law, restoring benefits for over 50,000 Georgians The Social Security Inspector General told Channel 2 Action News that it is launching a new audit in the next month into 'reasons SSA recorded erroneous deaths and whether it complied with policy when correcting them.' For nearly a decade, Channel 2 Action News has been investigating mistakes with the Social Security death master file. SSA collects data from states and from other sources, like funeral homes and financial institutions In 2016, Gloria Ornsby told Gray that her home nurse stopped showing up, and her seizure medications couldn't be filled after she was mistakenly added to the death master file. Martin O'Malley, the Social Security Commissioner under President Biden, said he's concerned that thousands of recent job cuts at SSA are leading to an increase in these incorrect death listings. 'They are terminating people's financial lives, making their bank accounts get closed, they can't open up a new bank account. We've all seen what a hassle it is if our credit card or debit card gets hacked, well imagine that happening, and then you can't open up the new account,' O'Malley said. The Reeds had to come home early from their Florida vacation to try to fix this. 'Can you imagine that? Waking up and then at zero, nothing's in the bank account. I said, 'Oh, I guess we'll be going back home,'' Reed said. SSA said in a release posted in March on its website that 'less than one-third of 1% are erroneously reported deaths that need to be corrected.' That's not much solace for Reed. 'It's very stressful to be dead. If you're not dead, this will kill you,' he said. After repeated trips to the Social Security office, SSA now tells Reed he is officially resurrected from the dead, but he still has not received either of his missing retirement checks. The Social Security Administration has not responded to our request for comment. The Social Security Inspector General said its new audit is its first look at this topic since 2021 and 'will assess the effectiveness of SSA's internal controls related to detecting, preventing, and removing incorrect death reports for beneficiaries.' On its website, SSA said people incorrectly listed as dead should go to their local SSA office and 'should be prepared to bring at least one piece of current (not expired) original form of identification. Social Security takes immediate action to correct its records, and the agency can provide a letter that the error has been corrected that can be shared with other organizations, agencies, and employers.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Henry Co. animal sanctuary says goodbye to beloved bear
Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in Locust Grove, Georgia, said goodbye to their beloved bear, Baloo, who was humanely euthanized by veterinarians on Tuesday. The sanctuary says the decision was made to euthanize Baloo after weeks of professional observation and treatment for discomfort originally attributed to a turned leg in early April. Baloo was a 23-year-old American black bear. Staffers say that over the years, he emerged from hibernation, showing normal mobility challenges for his stature. Beginning this spring, staffers say Baloo 'was not himself,' moving more slowly until he had a misstep that further reduced his ability to move. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Following his misstep, staffers say he had a decreased appetite while showing signs of increasing discomfort. Over the last few weeks, the sanctuary's team vet and staff adjusted his medication to provide relief. When they collaborated with University of Georgia veterinarians, they learned that CT machines could not accommodate an animal of his size. X-rays determined that he did not have any broken bones or fractures in some areas of his body, but they believed that his immobility was isolated to his back, which could not be x-rayed. UGA will conduct a necropsy to reveal more about the cause of his decline. His cremated remains will be returned to Noah's Ark, where he will join Leo (a lion) and Sheer Khan (a tiger), who are previously memorialized at the sanctuary. Baloo arrived as one of three bear cubs rescued from the captivity of a drug dealer. He recovered from surgery to remove an ingrown harness that was never loosened by his original owners. After healing from his wounds, staff says he became a confident and relaxed bear. TRENDING STORIES: [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
