Self-proclaimed bad boy Calvin Thompson never turned down a motorcycle ride. He enjoyed everything that came with being a biker and described himself as rough around the edges. But if he wanted to be with Belinda Thompson, he would have to lose his tough guy persona.
And he did.
“I knew if I wanted to be with her, I was going to have to know Jesus,” said Thompson. “And she led me to him.”
But nearly six years into their blissful romance, his wife was taken from him within the blink of an eye. Belinda was the lone death in the April 5 tornado that swept through Ellabell and Pembroke in Bryan County, Georgia.
She was 66.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Love at first sight
Although the pair was married for just a few years, they created a lifetime of memories. The two have done everything from zip lining to jet skiing. Belinda was outgoing and not afraid to try new things.
They met through mutual friends. Thompson recalls anxiously waiting to meet her in person since the two had only exchanged text messages early on.
An old-fashioned guy, Thompson showed up to Belinda’s home one day with flowers and candy. He tried to introduce himself, but Belinda wanted to be dolled up before he laid eyes on her. So he left the gifts on her windshield.
After a couple hours passed, he went back to her home. This time, Belinda was ready to meet him and the rest is history. “I knew she was the one the moment I met her,” said Thompson. “We just knew it was right. It wasn’t long after that we got married.”
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
'I did everything I could to save her'
When Belinda learned a tornado was in the area, she alerted her husband. He grabbed the dogs and they ran into the closet. Moments later, strong winds ripped off the door and two were tossed around.
“When I came inside, she asked me if I knew that we were under a tornado warning,” said Thompson. “I said no. We walked out the front door and we looked across the way and saw how nasty it was looking out there. We started hearing that roar – sounded like a train was coming through. By the time I got the dogs in the house, the tornado was next door. We held on to each other, praying. I saw the closet door go up.
"We wound up with the house on top of us. Her leg was laying across me. I was pinned down and I couldn’t get up from under the rubble. I was tripping and freaking out. She wasn’t moving. I kept hollering and my neighbor heard me screaming and hollering. He pried me from underneath it all. I tried CPR on her. I did everything I could.”
Belinda died from blunt force trauma.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Thompson had to leave his wife in the pile of rubble because the storm appeared to be circling back around. He fought back tears as he described the aftermath.
“I was so traumatized by what was going on,” said Thompson. “I was laying there with her, crying and begging, and pleading to God. It looked like it was going to storm again. I covered her up. I did the best I could do. It broke me apart to leave her like that.”
When he finally had a chance to sit down, he told his friends he felt extreme pain in his foot. When he took off his boot, his toe fell off. But that was the least of his worries. Belinda was gone. He never had a chance to revive her.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
For Thompson, it is the second time he has lived through such a tragedy. He lost his first wife of 30 plus years to a couple medical issues, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Thompson said after his first wife passed, he came rebellious. He started drinking on occasion but once he met Belinda, everything changed.
“When I met her, and I saw how much of a Christian she was, I made up my mind. I am giving all this up,” said Thompson.
Putting the pieces back together
Thompson admitted the two discussed getting a life insurance policy, though it would always end up being a casual conversation that never led to anything, a decision he regrets.
Now what sits in front of him is an empty lot filled with dirt where whirlwinds of sand form every time a good breeze blows by. Thompson has seen better days. He sits outside his camper thinking about what once was and admitted he has been frustrated by the lack of help.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
“I don’t think the government cares,” said Thompson. “I don’t have a washer machine, a dryer. I don’t have a place to hang my clothes. But I’m okay. I’m going to make it.”
Thompson said it has been difficult to see others put the pieces of their life together because he is the only person that lost a family member. He longs for better days, unbridled by the trauma from the heartbeat that stopped too soon.
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
“To have your life snatched away from you in 10 minutes, it’s really devastating,” said Thompson. “I loved her more than life itself. Why God let me stay here – I figured I just wasn’t ready. And she was. She was a Christian woman. She led me to God.”
Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 'I loved her more than life itself': Ellabell man remembers wife killed in Bryan County tornado
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