WOOD RIVER - While her trailer may be destroyed, 76-year-old Sherry Niver believes a new chapter of her life may just be beginning.
Severe storms Saturday afternoon and evening destroyed a tree adjacent to the trailer Niver owns and lived in with her 23-year-old granddaughter in Rocwood Mobile Home Park in Wood River. It collapsed into her living room, mere feet away from where she was sitting. She said she did not react to the incident at first.
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"The wind came in instantly, and within five seconds, that log had come in by me," she said. "It didn't bother me at all. My first thought was to grab my cellphone and my wallet and move my truck."
Upon exiting her house, however, Niver realized she had forgotten her keys. A kind neighbor noticed her dilemma, helped her get into her home through a wedged door and retrieved her keys so she could move her truck to safety. This was only the first of many community good deeds to come.
"People have been so helpful since this happened," she said. "People I've never seen or heard from before have come out to help me."
Since her situation had become headline news, Niver said an outstanding loan payment she had was paid by women who worked in the lender's office. She said the owner of another local trailer park was trying to find a way for her to have a place in his lot, with rent covered for the first few months.
Niver's trailer is completely totaled, but her personality is resilient. She has been staying with her neighbor for the past few nights, but stated she finds it hard to sleep anywhere but her own bed. Her granddaughter is staying with Niver's oldest daughter, who lives near the trailer park. Niver's grandson, who works as a web designer, is creating a GoFundMe for his grandmother as well.
Despite the astounding circumstances weighing against her, Niver is maintaining a nearly-zen way of looking at things.
"There's no reaction, really," she said. "You can't do anything about it. You might as well just face it and go from there."
Niver's belongings still reside in her trailer. Her grandson and neighbor helped move them to a part of the trailer where the roof is still structurally sound, to keep them from the weather. She spends most of her time in her truck, parked outside the destroyed trailer.
In a strange twist of fate, however, Niver revealed she had moved the recliner, in which she was sitting during the storm, to its current position. Previously, it was stationed precisely where the tree fell.
A tree on the other side of her trailer fell four years ago, causing a small hole in her living room. Niver said she had been worried for some time about the conditions of the trees surrounding her home.
