Sunday, April 18, 1999
Family finds comfort in outpouring of help
BY HOWARD WILKINSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[arshonsky family]](/editions/1999/04/14/family_200x133.jpg)
Steven Arshonsky has a fractured hip and his wife, Laurie, at right, has five cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Visiting them at the hospital are daughter Ashley, 21, and sons Austin, 17, and Bobby, 12.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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Laurie and Steven Arshonsky could be dwelling on what they lost in the tornado — their home on Valleystream Drive and, nearly, their lives.
Instead, they're thinking about what they've found — that they have a lot of friends in this world.
“People are so wonderful,” said Mrs. Arshonsky, who, with her husband, was literally blown out of their home early April 9 as it was ripped apart by the tornado.
Both ended up in the hospital — Mrs. Arshonsky with five cracked ribs and a collapsed lung, her husband with multiple cuts and a dislocated hip.
Mrs. Arshonsky was released from Jewish Hospital Kenwood on Thursday and went to live in an apartment the family will rent until they can build a new house. Her husband was transferred Friday to Drake Hospital for a week of physical therapy.
Since the disaster struck, Mrs. Arshonsky said she has received dozens of calls and visits from friends around the country, some of whom she had not heard from for years.
“Everyone wants to help,” she said. “Everyone wants to give. It makes it a lot easier when there are people around who care.”
About 15 Symmes Township women from Mrs. Arshonsky's book club are busy washing and mending the family's clothes that were found in the rubble of their Montgomery Woods house.
Mr. Arshonsky's two children were in the house when the tornado struck. Susie, 15, was treated and released for her injuries.
Twelve-year-old Bobby, who flagged down an ambulance to take the Arshonskys to the hospital after they were thrown 30 yards from the house, got through the ordeal relatively unscathed. He has returned to Green Middle School, where his classmates consider him a hero.
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![[arshonsky family]](/editions/1999/04/14/family_550x431.jpg)