Tony Raines of MTV's "The Challenge" is recounting the terror of his Louisiana home collapsing during Hurricane Ida, as well as his determination to get his fiance help after she was rendered unconscious.
Tony Raines/Instagram
On Sept. 9, the reality TV star shared a series of images showing the utter destruction of his home. He also posted a photo of fiancée Alyssa Giacon, who was hospitalized after suffering injuries.
"Hurricane Ida might've destroyed my home but I still have my family," he captioned the images. "The night of the storm a tree came crashing down through our living room. Alyssa and my 4 year old daughter, Isla, were sitting on the couch next to each other and I was standing in the middle of the room. When the roof collapsed, I fell to the floor and immediately thought the worst."
Tony immediate ran toward his family, who were somewhat buried in debris.
"I could hear my daughter crying and cleared her from the debris. I brought her to the middle hallway bathroom and went back for Alyssa," he wrote. "At first she was not responsive and my heart sunk but I could hear her breathing. After a few moments of moving the debris off of her to pull her out she regained consciousness."
Alyssa, Tony said, was hit in the head when the ceiling collapsed and her hand was "severely wounded."
"We were able to make it to the hall bathroom with my daughter, who was thankfully unscathed, and attempted to call 911 for help with Alyssa's injuries but it was too late. The storm made it impossible for emergency services to get to us. So we waited it out 5 hours before attempting a trip to the hospital ourselves," he said. "We drove every route possible but there was no way through the downed trees and power lines any way we went."
Eventually they met a man with a chainsaw who started clearing trees for them, but the process was slow.
"Almost 4 hours later and we finally were able to cut a path through and make it to the hospital," Tony said. "Alyssa received stitches in her forehead and the doctors scheduled surgery on her hand. If all goes well, she will make a full recovery in 3 months."
Despite the injuries and the destruction, Tony considers himself lucky.
"If that tree or part of the roof falls a foot in any other direction this could be a different story," he said. "I'm thankful I get to hug my family and as traumatic as this experience was, we are all blessed to still be here!"
