UConn pitcher Justin Willis shared the terrifying details about how he and his family escaped their condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, while on vacation.
“It felt like a first gust of wind from a storm,” Willis shared with the Hartford Courant in a recent piece about the collapse at Champlain Towers South condominium. It has that left 10 dead and 151 missing, CNN reported. (RELATED: Building Inspector Was On Roof Of Florida Condo Just Hours Before It Collapsed)
“Then the second one felt kind of like [Super Storm] Sandy, the way I remember it,” he added. “It kind of seemed normal for the moment. Then the third one felt like a jet took off right on top of our building. I was expecting to see a plane come right over our balcony.”(RELATED: Condo Collapse Aftermath: At Least 4 Dead As Search Continues For 159 Missing People In Miami)
Tonight, a UConn student’s family is thankful to be alive.
Justin Willis’ family were vacationing at the Champlain Towers South condominium when it partially collapsed early Thursday. In a photo, you can see how close they were to danger. pic.twitter.com/Ezv2ObltXz
— Shawnte Passmore (@ShawntePassmore) June 27, 2021
The college pitcher said he and his sister saw dust and debris billowing up on their 11th-floor balcony overlooking the ocean and it was then they gathered their stuff to get out of there.
“It was just a big cloud,” Willis shared. “We gathered all the stuff we could and walked down, tried to see what was happening.”
When the family walked out to take the elevator all they found was two gapping holes where they were supposed to be and could see the apartment next to them was totally gone.
Willis, his sister and their parents then made their way to the staircase to descend 11 floors and get out of the 13-story building.
“We were so naïve, and we don’t know the building well enough to know that more than half the building collapsed,” the college player shared. “The lights were out, and we were just trying to get out of there as fast as possible.”
During their harrowing escape they came upon an elderly woman with a cane, who was missing one sandal and praying in Spanish that she had had a “good life.”
“She was 88 or 89 years old,” Willis shared. “She was saying, ‘I’ve had good life,’ and this and that, and my father speaks Spanish. He told her, ‘We’ll get you out of here.'”
The whole group managed to get to the first floor where they found a flooded garage.
“At the moment, [focusing on saving the woman] takes your mind off it,” the player added. “There is something else going on.”
“Once we reached the beach, it kind of settled in,” he added. “like, wow, what just happened? I didn’t even think about it in the moment. I didn’t look back at the building.”
The UConn pitcher said he believes he and his sister were no more than 15 feet away from the part of the building that collapsed and that has left an impression on him.
“Me and my sister in the living room were probably the closest, were maybe 15 feet away from where the building ended up just breaking off,” the pitcher shared. “It just gives you a new sense. I’ve always been a positive kid. I like to think I’ve had some unreal experiences in baseball and what my parents have sacrificed for me, but it definitely gives you a new meaning.”