London, ky. – Kentucky firefighter, Leslie Leatherman, responded to the call for help, running in danger as he firmly did for decades, when a night tornado He advanced through his community in the foothills of the Apalaches. It was his last act of disinterest, and the person who protected in the midst of chaos was his wife.
Leatherman was among the 19 people killed in Kentucky when the storm arrived on Friday morning, since people on the road woke up to a terrifying scene. Most of the victims were Laurel county in southeast Kentucky, where Leatherman was a member of a voluntary fire department for a long time.
Leatherman, 57, died while protected his wife, Michelle, from the flying debris, said Terry Wattenbarger, deputy director of the Fire Department of Laurel County Firefighters, where Leatherman served as a specialty. He was found at his wife’s top, Wattenbarger said. Michelle Leatherman survived and was in critical condition on Tuesday at the Hospital of the University of Kentucky Chandler in Lexington, a spokesman said.
Wattenbarger said he believes it happened just after the tornado had roar, when the winds were still strong enough to throw debris into the air. They were found in a field about 100 yards (91 meters) of their destroyed home.
“I was shouting,” Wattenbarger said in an interview on Tuesday. “I am sure it was … to the first person who thought he could help. It simply turned out to be her.”
The tornado that hit Pulasski counties and Laurel carved a path of more than 55 miles (88 kilometers), according to the National Meteorological Service in Jackson, Kentucky. At its peak, the tornado grew to approximately one mile (1.6 kilometers) wide and had winds of up to 170 mph (274 kph).
The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, paid tribute to Leatherman for his decades of public service while asking people who pray for the families of all who died in the storm. The Democratic governor said that Leaterman “died doing what the first to answer every day they do every day, risking their own life for our security.”
When the storm approached, Leatherman said he was ready to help, said Wattenbarger. When a fire alarm rang in his neighborhood, Leaterman said he was responding. Shortly after, another firefighter confirmed that the tornado was on the floor there and caused mass damage.
The emergency workers found the Leatermans at the beginning of the answer, but did not recognize them in black, the authorities said. Leatherman was dead and tended to Michelle Leatherman. Leslie Leatherman’s location was recorded for later identification, and rescuers went on to help other victims.
A short time later, the authorities began looking for Leatherman after he did not respond to radio calls. Emergency responders returned to find their body and make the heartbreaking identification.
It was typical that Leatherman hastened in danger to protecting others, said Wattenbarger, who understood a lasting friendship with Leatherman when they were in the secondary school together.
“All his life has been a dedicated public servant,” said the deputy director. “He had a huge heart. He loved his family more than anything … and he really enjoyed life and was a very good person.”
Leatherman, known with love as Les, was a constant figure in emergency services for the region. He began as an emergency medical technician in Laurel County, then became an emergency dispatcher, first for Laurel County authorities and then for Kentucky State Police, Wattenbarger said.
More recently, he served as deputy director of the 911 center in the neighboring Whitley County.
“He was a very sincere, very hard man, a very dedicated man,” said Pat White Jr., Whitley County Judge, “someone who young people who enter emergency services in this region admired and sought guidance. It was a great mentor for many of them. We are sure to miss him.”
Leatherman also served as a fire rescue instructor. Brandon Wagers, a member of the London Fire Department and partner Instructor, said that Leatherman’s death will feel throughout the region.
“He was a good person,” Wagers said. “I always had something good to say.”
A constant was the almost 3 years of Leatherman service as firefighter. Leatherman “put the blood of his life and the work of life to be the best person and the best respondent that could be,” Wattenbarger said.
His death sent shock waves through the very close rows of his fire department.
“We are surviving,” said Wattenbarger. “That is the only way we can describe it. People say ‘Are you okay?’ No, we are not right.
