Three years ago in the summer, my husband was working nights. One night, I called him to tell him I was not feeling well and was going home to bed. This meant I would not have the CI on and would not be able to answer the phone if he called. We always called each other several times a night just because we could.
I went home, took off the CI and went to bed. The next thing I knew, my husband was standing over me shaking me awake and signing to me (I was deaf when we met and married and he taught me to sign so we could communicate) that I had to get up and leave the condo RIGHT NOW! Believe me, he can YELL in signing! I had taken Tylenol and was groggy and he was throwing me my clothes and literally pulling me to grab my purse.
I ran to the bathroom, and past our stairs. When I saw a policewoman standing in our entryway, I woke up fast and got scared, but my husband pushed me to keep moving, giving me no time to ask questions. I finally got the CI on and he was yelling at me to grab the charger and batteries and my purse with my wallet.
We ran down the stairs of our condo. The policewoman opened our front door and I saw "yellow police tape" all along the left side of our building. My immediate reaction was concern for our great neighbors next door but the policewoman and my husband were pushing me to move on. I noticed my car was the only car parked in front of several buildings. Then I noticed the floodlights, the TV cameras and a huge group of people standing behind a barricade down by our clubhouse. I was freaking out and confused all at once.
This is what happened. The couple living two doors from us in the same building had a fight. Apparently, she told him she was leaving and he threatened her. She called the police to help her get her things out of the townhouse. When the police tried to enter, they realized he had bombs set to go off.
Immediately everyone was evacuated from not only our building but from the surrounding buildings, too. Everyone except me who was peacefully sleeping, totally unaware of the drama going on around me.
About 90 minutes into this drama, my husband came home from work, entered the complex and was told by the police he could not get through. He asked if his wife had left and they assured him everyone was out. As I had said I was going to sleep, he was not convinced. He tried my cell phone, which I didn't answer – of course -- and thus clued him in that I was still in the townhouse. The police finally agreed to let the policewoman escort him to our home to see if I was there.
At this point, the police were not saying anything about a bomb threat because the bomb squad was on its way. When we finally got to the other side of the barricade the police told us to go out to eat or such since it might be another hour or so before we could get back in. We assumed it was a domestic fight, gone bad. Never in our wildest imaginations did we imagine our home could blow up.
We came back from having something to eat, and there was the bomb squad and more rescue vehicles. That is when we learned about the unit being triggered with bombs.
We had to go to a motel that night and when we finally went to sleep it was only a matter of hours before 5 am and I had to get up for work. I turned on the TV and was grateful to see a "live" shot of our building, with my car in front, still standing. I went to work that day with no idea how long it would take to dismantle all the bombs and we could get back in. My boss told me to go "home" once she found out about the situation, but I had no "home" to go to yet and working made me focus on something besides the unbelievable facts.
It was found out later that this man was planning to blow up a religious facility in our area in retaliation for 9/11 and not only had he triggered bombs but he also had a cache of weapons, some only military issue. This is what took forever; they had to clean out the entire condo and make sure everything was gone.
We were finally allowed back in our home sometime around 4 pm, a little less than 24 hours after it started.
My husband has always been my hero, but that night he was in spades!
I used to tell people that without the CI, "...a bomb could go off and I wouldn't know until I saw the hole," but I don't use that phrase anymore!
Lynn, who never forgets that without the CI, I am totally deaf.
Note from the Editor: The main story made national news. If you'd like to read up on it, check out this link:
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/08/24/TampaBay/Podiatrist_s_arsenal_.shtml