Johnson was in the tornado’s vortex.
She tried to make sense of what was happening. She wondered if she had been caught in a tsunami.
“But there was no water,” Johnson said.
Her body was struck repeatedly by long pieces of timber and drawers from her bedroom which had been sucked into the churning column of air with her.
“I sort of relaxed while I was in there,” Johnson said.
“I think I sort of thought I was in a dream, I couldn’t get the reality of it. It was just too out there.”
Suddenly, Johnson felt her body being “drilled” into the back bedroom wall by the force of the twister.
Her body was thrown and landed on top of her metal shed. The bedroom roof landed on top of her but she somehow managed to push it away.
Johnson’s body was covered in pieces of plasterboard and chunks of insulation, which she pushed off before swinging her legs around and pulling herself up into a seated position.
The adrenaline coursed through her body and prevented her from feeling any pain.
Johnson looked at the world around her. Everything was masked in a grey mist, she said.
“You could hear a pin drop. Everything was silent.
“I actually thought I was the only person alive. I thought everyone else was dead because it was so quiet,” she said.
A bolt of lightning pulled her from her daze. She screamed for help.
Neighbours rushed to help her and within minutes she was surrounded by rescuers. They used pieces of debris to stabilise the shed roof.
Johnson had been terrified the shed might collapse under her weight.
It was in those moments she was told a tornado had torn through the streets.
As Johnson lay waiting for emergency services, she could see her “horrendous” injuries.
A bone near her wrist had snapped and was poking out of her arm. Her leg was so mangled it looked as though a shark had attacked it, she said.
Johnson gave her friend’s number to rescuers. It was the number she could recall.
As Ross rushed up Old Waipu Rd to help – past police cordons and driving over power lines – ambulance crews made a shortcut through the back of properties to reach her.
Ross even happened to drive over Tina’s bedroom deck, which had landed halfway down the street.
When he arrived, Johnson felt safe.
Shortly after Ross’ arrival, emergency services reached Johnson and started the long journey to safety.
“They had to carry me all the way down Old Waipu Rd. And I remember saying ‘Is it raining?’ And they were like, ‘No, we’re cutting through the bush’.”
Johnson said she floated in and out of consciousness.
She was taken to Mangawhai Heads Beach to be picked up by a helicopter.
The ambulance shook as the chopper landed, making her panic.
“I knew what it was, but I still had that fear,” she said.
At the front of Johnson’s mind was her daughter Jade, who had been staying in Mangawhai.
“When the helicopter took off from the surf beach, I was able to see where Jade was staying, and that the house was okay,” which gave her “huge relief”.
She was airlifted to Auckland City Hospital and woke with Ross and Jade at her side.
Johnson’s stint in hospital is a blur. She has had five surgeries and other procedures.
Remarkably, she has already taken a few steps. But because of her injured arm, she struggles to lean on the gutter frame so is using a wheelchair.
“They are pretty impressed that I’ve got to where I’ve got to already. And that I am so determined to get up and about.”
Johnson has been at three different hospitals and been treated by teams in plastics, skin, orthopaedic, physio, occupational therapy, and more.
She was told her recovery would be a long process.
“I’m just focused on healing and moving forward and getting out of here more than anything else.
“I’m not dwelling on it,” Johnson said.
When she looks back on the events, she said she is more shocked than anything else.
On the day Johnson spoke with the Northern Advocate, her beloved home of five years was being demolished.
She would have liked to see it in person one last time.
But close friends and family sifted through broken walls, doors and furniture to find valuables such as jewellery and photographs.
Jade FaceTimed her from the top of the stairs where her bedroom once was.
Johnson watched a digger go through her unrecognisable home.
She believed the fact her house had been on the market may have made the mourning process easier.
She plans to move in with some good friends in Mangawhai when she is finally discharged.
Then, she just wants to get on with life.
Johnson said she is amazed by the community around her, including support from strangers.
But one of her biggest blessings?
A friend brings her coffee a few times a week.
“It’s the little things,” she laughed.
Johnson’s neighbour set up a Givealittle page to help support her road to recovery. To donate, head to this link.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
