Sadie Schiermeyer

Sick girl uses Siri to save her family from Harvey floodwaters 

Link: http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/09/04/sick-girl-uses-siri-to-save-her-family-from-harvey-floodwaters/

Teenager Tyler Frank has survived not only her life threatening sickness but Hurricane Harvey too, and she has Siri to thank for it. The young lady has been struggling with her health her whole life as she is a victim of sickle cell anemia. The genetic disease results in sometimes unbearable pain when her misshapen red blood cells prevent oxygen from reaching her entire body. Circumstances like traumatic experiences or cold environments are the main triggers for her disease. Caught in the terror that is Hurricane Harvey, it was only a matter of time before Tyler's symptoms started showing. When the Frank family woke up to a flooded home, their only option was to tough it out on the roof where it was both colder and more traumatic. The family had no clue as to how they were going to escape- 911 and social media were proving to be a dead end. Then, the fourteen-year-old had an idea. She used Siri as a resource and in return got the number of the local coast guard. The first helicopter to arrive at the house was unhelpful and ignored her sickness. She wasn't their first priority. However, Tyler's hope didn't falter. After a second call, another helicopter arrived and took her to safety. Tyler Frank has now been seen by multiple doctors and has been reunited with her family at a motel.

Author Elizabeth Cohen gave us just a small insight to the storm that is wrecking Texas. As someone who has family that lives near the storm, the article made me realize how fortunate my family was to be out of the way. It was especially heartbreaking because the article is only a few days old and there are still people facing similar situations. Tyler's story wasn't very informative for me, but it can be eye opening to those who are not being affected by the storm. As the author probably hoped, it inspires me to do something in hopes of helping the people who were affected.  As a community and as a country, we must remember what we learned from similar storms of the past in order to help the victims move on in this natural disaster.