Young Boy Saves Family, Meets Lauren Alaina
Lauren Alaina isn't the only local presence in the national spotlight on "American Idol." Eleven-year-old Tyler Long shared his amazing story of survival with the singer during the FOX show Thursday night.
Tyler, a resident of Ringgold, saved his 10-month-old brother and other family members during the storm. A tornado threw him from his mobile home near Cherokee Valley Road. When Lauren made rounds during her homecoming Saturday, she met up with Tyler and his family at Cherokee Valley Baptist Church.
"My dad told me to look for my little baby brother, and I saw his white diapers sticking out. Then I went and got him out of the bricks," Tyler said during the episode.
Turns out the Tyler and Lauren Alaina Tim Estep, Tyler's uncle, says the pastor of Cherokee Valley Baptist Church called him last Thursday, saying someone famous wanted to pay a visit. connection started before she met him that Saturday. That call came at the right time. Just days earlier, Tyler lost his grandfather Jack Estep in the storm. His mother Veronica Long was 11 weeks pregnant. She lost her baby and is still in the hospital with Tyler's baby brother.
Estep says Lauren's visit is a welcome bright spot in the midst of the tragedy.
"As long as it keeps his head up and keeps him from not focusing so much on the deaths and all that. That's basically what I'm hoping for out of it," Estep says.
