A mother whose spine was severed when she used her body to shield her sons from a tornado is undergoing an operation in an attempt to walk again.
Amy Hawkins, 43, has been in a wheelchair since the F-3 tornado ripped apart her Hendersonville, North Carolina, home in 2006.
As it hit the house she went down to her basement and laid down on top of her sons Jair and Cole, who were aged six and three at the time.
But bricks rained down on the trio, leaving Mrs Hawkins critically injured - her vertebrae and ribs were crushed, her lungs were punctured and she received serious head wounds.
Hope: Amy Hawkins' spine was severed when she used her body to shield her sons from a tornado. Pictured: Mrs Hawkins with her sons at their home
Tragic: Mrs Hawkins, 43 (seen left before the accident and right now), has been in a wheelchair since the F-3 tornado ripped apart her Hendersonville, North Carolina, home in 2006
Her husband, Jerrod who is a firefighter, was at work when the tornado hit and could only watch from his fire station as it completely destroyed his home, reports the Tennessean.
Their sons were released from hospital unharmed, but Mrs Hawkins was left paralyzed from the waist down and is now in a wheelchair.
'I remember bricks hitting me,' Mrs Hawkins told the ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition who made her home more accessible following the accident.
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Share'They weren't sure how to tell me I was going to be paralyzed.
'You don't really think about it until the time comes,' she said of using her body to shield her sons who are now aged 12 and 14.
Recovery: As it hit her home she went down to her basement and laid down on top of her sons Jair and Cole, who were aged six and three at the time. Pictured: Mrs Hawkins leaves hospital after the accident in 2006
Terrifying: Her husband, Jerrod (pictured with the family) who is a firefighter, was at work when the tornado hit and could only watch the storm from his fire station as the tornado completely destroyed his home
'You know that you'd put your life on the line for the kids. You do what needs to be done.'
This week she is undergoing surgery in California on her spine.
It was originally scheduled for October, but after the mother-of-two contracted pneumonia it was delayed.
Mrs Hawkins said in a phone interview with the Tennessean that she is hopeful of what results the surgery will bring.
Family time: Mrs Hawkins cooks with her young son. Her sons were not harmed, but Mrs Hawkins was left needing a wheelchair
Hope: This week she is undergoing surgery in California on her spine. Although paralyzed from the waist down, she does feel pain in her back and often tingling down her legs, she said
Adjustment: Mrs Hawkins in her home which was redesigned by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to make it more accessible for her wheelchair
She said sometimes she does feel pain in her back and often tingling down her legs which she hopes the surgery will relieve.
'I think it will make everything easier to go through the therapy that I need to be able to walk,' she said.
'I still have the dream of walking again one day,' Mrs Hawkins added.
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