‘The Wire’ actor’s son gives thanks as he recovers from Ga. tornado injury
ATLANTA, Ga. - The teenager who was thrown nearly 300 feet from his house during a Henry County tornado is thanking everyone who’s reached out to him as he continues to recover.
“I just want to say, I want to thank everybody for ing me, and it means the world,” Malachi Chaney said in a video message. “And it’s going to be one of the greatest comebacks that you’ve ever seen in your life.”
Malachi recorded the message from the Shepherd Rehabilitation Center in Atlanta.
He was itted to the center after spending 14 days at Grady Memorial Hospital, mostly in the ICU, after he was severely injured when a tornado hit his Henry County home last month.
“He knows where he is, and now I think for him, it’s just accepting what happened. He and I had a real heart to heart, and we cried and we both were angry. I think the reason why we are angry is because we can’t be angry at anybody,” said Tray Chaney, Malachi’s dad.
Malachi was thrown nearly 300 feet away from his house when an EF-2 tornado sucked him out of his second-floor bedroom and he landed in the woods behind his home.
He suffered a traumatic brain injury and underwent surgery for several fractured bones in his face, according to his father Tray — known for playing Malik “Poot” Carr on HBO’s The Wire.
Malachi, who turned 19 while in the ICU, just started physical therapy at the center as he heals from diffuse axonal injury, a serious traumatic brain injury.
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Malachi is also healing from broken ribs and a punctured lung. His father, Tray, was also home at the time of the tornado.
Tray was knocked unconscious when debris hit him in the head. Tray said his son is trying to be just as strong.
“Shepherd called me last night and said, ‘We don’t mean to alarm you and Mrs. Chaney, but he jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom on his own, and he wasn’t supposed to do that.’ So, I don’t know. Malachi Chaney is a miracle baby.”
At Shepherd, Malachi’s day is packed with physical and mental therapy, plus re-mastering how to do daily tasks.
Tray explained his son is, “walking on his own ... we have to follow behind him and assist. But he is so anxious to do everything on his own. He is eating on his own.”
Tray, his wife and Malachi’s mother, Ayesha, spend the majority of their time with Malachi. Plus, they recently made time to go back to what is left of their home to find priceless items in the rubble.
“I found my wedding ring. I’ve been married 20 years to Ayesha Chaney, been with her for 23. I found the wedding ring in the woods and I found my Bible. I found a lot of his baby pictures. And I’m like maybe God is sending a sign. I don’t know what’s happened — let it happen, but I’m no longer questioning it,” said Tray.
The road to recovery is the journey of the whole family. Tray said he’s seeking mental health therapy for them.
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“I do know it’s light at the end of every dark tunnel, but I’m just ready for this nightmare to be over. I don’t know when it will be over, but it’s tough. But Malachi is the light — yes, he is the light,” said Tray.
Tray said they do not plan to rebuild their same home in Henry County, because he said it is too traumatic for them to go back there and live there.
There is no timeline for Malachi’s stay at Shepherd Center, as it will depend on his recovery.
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