CCTV footage of the tornado that tore through Paraparaumu. Video / HT Media NZ
A Kāpiti teenager, dubbed by his nurse as “the tornado kid”, has recalled being impaled by a piece of his own bedroom when his sleepout was destroyed during the terrifying storm.
When a tornado tore through the neighbourhood on Tuesday in Paraparaumu, Rhiley Stevens, 16, was asleep inside the cabin in his family’s yard. The sleepout was lifted into the air and then thrown back down with Rhiley inside it.
A piece of glass became lodged in Rhiley, causing him to suffer a collapsed lung.
His mum Jade Stevens today told the Herald her son was in good spirits following his surgery on Tuesday, and was doing well after having his chest drain removed last night.
Speaking to Newshub today from outside the hospital, Rhiley said he woke up to find his room shaking intensely.
“The whole thing just lifted up,” he recalled. “I was thrown across the room, glass shattered.”
Rhiley Stevens, 16, was in his Paraparaumu sleepout when a tornado ripped through.
He ran towards the main house, where his mum was waiting.
At the time the tornado hit about 5.30am, Jade Stevens had heard the wind tearing through the property and grabbed her 12-year-old, Cooper. It was then that Rhiley appeared at the back door.
“It was so dark, but there was just blood pouring out of him,” she said.
“Cooper grabbed the first aid kit and we ran into the bathroom where my partner and I stemmed the blood while we waited for the ambulance.”
Jade Stevens was full of praise for the ambulance and medical staff who had helped them and also wanted to express her gratitude to everyone who had supported them from family and friends to strangers.
Rhiley showed Newshub a small piece of glass in a plastic container that had been lodged in his chest, a small memento of his brush with death.
“I was definitely scared for my life,” he said.
“It could have been a lot worse, I could have died.
“You know, I could have, my neck, could have got slashed instead of my chest.”
An eager musician, Rhiley said he was looking forward to getting back home to his drumset and is most likely going to be released from the hospital tomorrow.
In the meantime, the teen has picked up a new nickname in the hospital.
“One of the nurses that came in called him the tornado kid,” Stevens laughed.
A givealittle page has been set up to try to get a new bedroom for Rhiley before he leaves the hospital, which his dad and two brothers are currently attempting to rebuild.
At least 20 properties were reported to have been damaged in Paraparaumu with roofs blown off or lifted, and one house being lifted off its piles.
The destructive twister first hit in Nikau Valley at 5.30am, touching down six or seven times before making its way out to sea.
