Tenant who had leg amputated during rescue from Iowa building collapse breaks silence

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A woman who had her leg amputated when she was rescued from the rubble of her collapsed building in Iowa has opened up about her fight for survival.

For the first six hours after an apartment complex in Davenport, Iowa, came crashing down, Qaunishia ‘Peach’ White Berry was trapped under the wreckage. Her wife Lexus Berry narrowly escaped the 28 May collapse but remained at the site of the tragedy, hoping to hear news of a miracle rescue.

In an interview from her hospital bed with CNN, Ms White Berry recalled fruitlessly yelling her wife’s name amid the confusion. Only four other people remained trapped in the building at that time; another woman who was rescued 24 hours after the collapse and three men whose bodies were recovered days later.

“I was so scared. I was just like, ‘What just took place?’” Ms White Berry said. “[I thought], ‘I have to make it, especially for (Lexus). I have to be able to tell this story.’”

When search crews finally located Ms White Berry, they realised her left leg was trapped between a large concrete block and a steel girder. The decision was made right then and there that she would only have a chance at survival if her leg was amputated.

“When she was unresponsive, we just made a decision: Let’s get her out of here,” Dr Calvin Atwell, a trauma surgeon who responded to the tragedy, told CNN. “We knew that she’d been trapped for six hours, and we knew that she wasn’t going to survive much longer.”

Ms Berry had a chance to comfort her wife before Dr Atwell performed the procedure. But the void space available was so small that only the surgeon could stay with Ms White Berry for the remainder of the operation.

Ms White Berry was eventually airlifted to an area hospital, where she is still recovering from the emotional and physical wounds she experienced.

She is now determined to regain her life.

The couple lost their home, their belongings and their two cats. A GoFundMe page has been created by friends to help cover costs that incur as Ms White Berry and her wife search for a new home that is accessible.

“I’m looking forward to healing and getting good treatment, good care. I’m already seeing myself walking again. I don’t feel stopped by any means,” Ms White Berry told CNN.

The couple has also filed a lawsuit against the City of Davenport and building owner Andrew Wold for “permanent and catastrophic personal injuries”.

Their attorney told CNN that the defendants had allegedly failed to act on multiple warnings that the building’s structural integrity was compromised.

“While trapped she was terrified, not sure if she would survive or be found, all the while enduring water and structural debris raining down on top of her,” an excerpt of the suit read. “The only way the emergency responders could extricate Peach was to amputate her left leg above the knee.”

Last weekend, city officials announced they had recovered the remains of three previously missing tenants: Branden Colvin Sr, 42, Daniel Prien, 60, and Ryan Hitchcock, 51.

Despite a myriad of reports from past and current tenants that the building’s conditions were unsafe, a structural engineer hired by the owner deemed the structure safe, officials said.

The building was undergoing permitted repairs at the time of the collapse. Last year, nearly 20 permits were filed, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues, according to the Associated Press.

Months before the incident, city officials and the building’s owner were warned that parts of The Davenport were unstable. One former maintenance employee also told The Independent he warned the owner of the building’s deteriorating conditions.

Iowa court records reviewed by The Independent show that Mr Wold and Davenport Hotel LLC are listed as defendants in a civil enforcement action brought by the City of Davenport on 30 May.

Mr Wold is facing a $300 fine for failing to keep the building in a “safe, sanitary and structurally sound condition.”

The Independent’s attempts to contact Mr Wold have been unsuccessful.