Cancer patient dealing with family crisis among those displaced in Philadelphia rowhome collapse
Action News spoke with one resident who says this incident is extremely difficult to process.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A cancer patient, who is also dealing with serious health issues among his children, is among the people displaced after a row home partially collapsed in Philadelphia's Spring Garden section on Wednesday morning.
It happened around 7:15 a.m. at a two-story row home on the 700 block of North 16th Street.
Neighbors were evacuated from the building as a precaution after the collapse.
Action News spoke with one resident who says this incident is extremely difficult to process. He says he can't seem to catch a break.
"My house is gone, I'm trying so hard," said Tyrone Mack from Spring Garden.
Mack says life has not been easy lately.
"I got a 9-year-old son that has leukemia, I got an 11-year-old daughter that had her third open heart surgery, and all I'm trying to do is survive and make it and this is unbelievable," he said. "I can't believe that I'm having this much bad luck in my life and I'm just trying to take care of my family."
The stage four colon cancer patient says he was on his way home from the doctor's Tuesday night when his wife called him.
"She said, 'I'm hearing this loud noise and the whole house is shaking.' And then all of a sudden there's this big crack in the side of my house and they were trying to fix it," Mack recalled.
On Wednesday morning, he found his home partially collapsed.
"They're saying you can't go in, we left last night and my kids' school clothes are in there. I got three generations in this house. I don't care how much money they throw at me, I can't get those pictures back of my great grandfather that I can show my daughter, 'Hey this is your grandfather.' Some things are invaluable. My cats are in there. I don't know what to expect," Mack said.
Authorities have not yet stated what caused the partial collapse. At this time no injuries have been reported.
The city's Department of Licenses and Inspections released the following response to the partial collapse:
"The property located at 729 N. 16th Street is imminently dangerous following a partial collapse. The Department of Licenses and Inspection did an emergency demolition of the property today. The family has been relocated. No one was injured during the collapse."
