NEW CASTLE, Va. – Two deaths in Virginia have been reported from Helene’s impact: one in Tazewell County, the other in Craig County, where a woman was killed when high winds hit her property.
A Craig County deputy was also seriously injured by flying debris while responding to that scene but was released from the hospital on Tuesday. Among his injuries was a broken jaw.
“I’m doing better than what I was, still getting used to not being able to open my mouth wide open but here we are,” said Deputy Gregory May of the Craig County Sheriff’s Office.
May told 10 News he was at court in New Castle on Friday when a call came in that a woman on Cumberland Gap Road a few miles away may have been trapped by debris.
He rushed to the scene to help find the woman and found a chicken coop overturned. He remembers calling out to a fire chief to help move the coop.
“That’s all that I remember,” May said. “After that, I don’t remember until I was in the back of a rescue squad.”
Sheriff Lloyd Craddock was also one of the first responders on the scene that day. He’s grateful for the many volunteer fire departments and other crews that assisted with storm response and cleanup.
“I haven’t seen winds like that in the county since we had that derecho come through years ago, so it was extremely high winds, a lot of rain,” said Sheriff Lloyd Craddock. “It was a dangerous day.”
May was first transported to LewisGale Hospital Montgomery and then to LewisGale Medical Center in Salem.
In all, May had a concussion, a broken jaw in three places and a severe laceration under his neck.
But Holly King was found dead on her property, apparently struck by debris. She was a special education teacher at Eastern Montgomery High School in Ellston. May said he was saddened to hear that King did not survive.
“We’re a small community here. and pretty much everybody knows everybody,” Craddock said. “And it affects the county when something like that happens. it was a terrible day.”
That community has also rallied around May and his wife Savannah, an outpouring for which they are grateful. A GoFundMe campaign has raised close to $10,000.
“I didn’t expect that much support but Greg’s very loved and very appreciated in what he does,” Savannah May told 10 News. “He treats everybody kindly and that goes very far.”
May tells me he’s eager to return to work as soon as he’s medically cleared, which should happen in the next couple of months.
“My philosophy in life is do as much as I can for everybody else because you never know one day that might happen to you, and it maybe it happened to be Friday that I needed help,” May said.