Community Corner

Video: Homeowner Recounts 'All We Have Left' After Sinkhole Tragedy

Holding on to a piece of wood from his now-demolished home at 240 Faithway Drive in Seffner, homeowner Leland Buddy Wicker discusses the Seffner sinkhole tragedy at a storage unit in Seffner.

 

"This is all, this is all we have left," Leland Buddy Wicker said, at a storage unit in Seffner, where what remains of his home and its furnishings are being stocked away for future use.

He said he recounts "the years, the trials, tribulations we went through to end up like this," and he thanks God that "he's kept us together, even through this ordeal, and he tells us that anthing that he puts on us we will be able to handle."

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"He don’t put nothing on us that we cant handle," Wicker said.

Yet, he added, "It's just hard to stand here and hold this board and know that I don't have a home to go back to."

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The board is a long one, painted sky blue, with the numbers 2-4-0 planted on it, and Wicker held that board standing outside the storage unit rented for the family by the Brandon Foundation, which is collecting community donations to aid the family and others displaced in the Seffner sinkhole tragedy.

  • Community Aids Displaced Seffner Sinkhole Victims

Jeffrey Bush, 36, lost his life Feb. 28 when the sinkhole swallowed his bed and bedroom, which Wicker had allowed the close family friend to use. Bush's brother, Jeremy, is the father of Wicker's great-granddaughter, 2-year-old Hannah.

"I feel bad, hurt, and lost and I don’t how to say it," Wicker said about the death of Jeffrey Bush. "I thank God for him and I pray everything will be alright."

  • Memorial Announced for Sinkhole Victim

That the community is reaching out to support his family and others displaced by the catastrophic sinkhole is not lost upon Wicker, his four children, 13 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

"It's hard to believe what happened, the way it did, and to know now that all I have left from my home at 240 Faithway Drive, Seffner, Florida, right here, [this] is all I got left," Wicker said, standing in front of the filled storage unit.

All that, he said, "and the memories that are in my heart of everything that went on" in that home, at 240 Faithway Drive, since he bought it in 1974 with his wife, Mary Leona Wicker, who died in 2005.

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BRANDON PATCH SEFFNER SINKHOLE COVERAGE (Through March 15, starting with the most recent posts):

  • Jaudon Family Displaced in Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy
  • HuffPost Live Looks at Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy: 'Saving Us From Sinkholes'
  • Seffner Sinkhole Video: 'In a Flash It Happens and the Whole World's Changed'
  • Video: Final Walls Come Down on Seffner Sinkhole at 240 Faithway Drive
  • 2nd Seffner Sinkhole Under Investigation as Stabilization Work Continues
  • Seffner Sinkhole Homeowner: 'God Has a Plan'
  • Seffner Sinkhole Victim Officially 'Presumed' Deceased
  • Readers React to Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy
  • Family Treasures Salvaged from Seffner Sinkhole Demolition
  • Demolition Under Way at Seffner Sinkhole Site
  • More Photos From the Seffner Sinkhole Site
  • Seffner Sinkhole Operation Readies for Impending Demolition
  • 3rd Home 'Compromised' at Seffner Sinkhole Site; Relief Fund Established
  • Video: Deputy Douglas Duvall Recounts Seffner Sinkhole Heroics
  • Situation 'Extremely Unsafe' at Seffner Sinkhole Site
  • Family Member Recalls Horror of Seffner Sinkhole Tragedy
  • Photos From the Scene of Sinkhole in Seffner
  • Video: Hillsborough Fire Chief Discusses Seffner Sinkhole
  • Hillsborough County Among Top 10 Sinkhole-Prone Florida Counties
  • Update: Sinkhole Swallows Seffner Man Sleeping in Bed
  • Video of Deputy Who Worked To Save Men From Sinkhole 
  • Video: Fire Chief Answers Questions             

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