It has been six months since a tornado tore a path through middle Tennessee in the dead of night, leaving immeasurable damage in its wake. Through that destruction, however, humanity shone bright when people from across the state, and even around the country, volunteered time, money, effort to clean up debris and lend a helping hand to those who lost everything.
One Mt. Juliet man risked his safety during the height of the storm when he left his house to wake up his neighbors, but Lee Shand told WSMV he has no regrets.
"'Til this day, I don't know whether it was brave or stupid," Shand said.
His neighbors would argue this act was indeed brave. After Shand knocked on the door of his neighbor Arlo, who had a newborn baby, it started a chain of residents going house to house and alerting those inside of what was coming.
Shand had just made it back inside to his safe spot when the storm hit.
"By the time I got back into the house and closed the bathroom door, there was a terrific noise, a rush of air that we felt under the door and then all the lights went out," he said.
When people learned what he had done, he was hailed as a hero. That distinction, he said, should be aimed at first responders and those who are fighting COVID-19.
"I just did what I thought was right," he said.
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