Severe weather

Florida Resident Secured Paralyzed Husband to Hospital Bed and Gave Him a Life Jacket

Renee Smith had to act quickly when Hurricane Ian battered down on her Punta Gorda home. But first, she protected her husband

NBC News

A Florida woman used duct tape, tarpaulin, blankets, pillows and zip ties to secure her paralyzed husband to his hospital bed as Hurricane Ian battered their Punta Gorda home.

She also gave him a life jacket in case water flooded their home, some 24 miles north of Fort Myers.

“I don’t want him to die,” Renee Smith told NBC News’ Kerry Sanders Thursday in an emotional interview.

The Florida couple had recently returned home from the hospital after Smith's husband, Christopher, became paralyzed from the chest down due to prostate cancer that metastasized to his spine.

He was scheduled to undergo radiation treatment on Wednesday but it was canceled due to the hurricane, which made landfall Wednesday afternoon and knocked out power to more than 2.6 million people across Florida.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com.

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