from JOPLIN Globe online edition story (May 29, 5:41 p.m. service)
It was with mixed emotions that Pamela Jean Praytor got to hear the president of the United States eulogize her son Sunday afternoon. “As a mama, I’m proud of him,” she said of her son. “I’m proud of what he did and thankful he saved the lives he did. But I would rather have my son back. That sounds selfish. But I miss him.”
Her son was Christopher Lucas, a 27-year-old father who is credited with saving the lives of several employees and customers at the Pizza Hut on Range Line Road when the brutal EF-5 tornado on May 22 bore down on the restaurant. He was one of several heroes “who said, ‘I’m willing to die so someone else can live,’” President Barack Obama said during a memorial service at Missouri Southern State University one week after the tornado struck. Obama, Gov. Jay Nixon and several Joplin church leaders offered their support and encouragement to a crowd of tornado survivors who applauded each mention of Joplin’s resilience.
Lucas, who served his country in the Navy until 2009, was working at Pizza Hut when the tornado hit. He ushered more than a dozen people into a freezer in the restaurant, but the door wouldn’t stay closed, Obama said as he related Lucas’ story to the thousands who filled Taylor Performing Arts Center to capacity.
Lucas left the safety of the freezer to find a bungee cord or rope — it’s not clear exactly where or how — and returned to the freezer just as the tornado cut its path across Range Line Road. He secured the cord or rope to the door handle, wrapped the other end around his arm and held on as long as he could.
“He saved more than a dozen people in that freezer,” Obama said. “There are heroes all around us, all the time.”
http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1326416046/Residents-Ceremony-wonderful-tribute-to-Joplin
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