"I just than God I'm alive. You don't know how invigorating it is."
Not many people would look at this mess and feel relief, but 62-year-old Marilyn Mickles does. She says she might have been injured or worse had this happened at night. Mickles is battling breast cancer and was packing her suitcase in this bedroom for a trip to an Illinois treatment center when the unthinkable happened.
The giant tree came crashing through her home at about 12:30 in the afternoon on Saturday.
Marilyn says, "I really have a positive attitude. My faith is so great. I mean, you know, I've been brought out of the brinks of the grave, as far as I was concerned."
Mickles has lived in the home for 12 years but in 2004, the same year she was diagnosed with cancer, she had a fire. It forced her out of the house for several months. Some might say she has been a victim of incredibly bad luck, but not deeply religious Marilyn Mickles. She says she will go to Illinois for her treatments, which have been going well, and deal with this when she comes home... somehow, she continues to smile.
"I'm so thankful. I'm so pleased that he spared me. And like I said, he spared me for a reason," Marilyn said.
Mickels said when her house burned she lived in a trailer right on the property. She's going to try and do that again so she can keep close track of the progress.
