‘I tried to save her:’ Mother dies when tree falls on home during Helene

ANDERSON COUNTY, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - A man in South Carolina is grieving the death of his mother, who was killed during Helene.

Sandy Lee Fisher, 54, was killed when a tree fell through a trailer in Anderson County, South Carolina, at about 6 a.m. Friday.

“I’m going to have nightmares for the rest of my life,” said her son, Brandon, who was in the home with her.

Brandon said his mother was sleeping when the tree fell on top of her.

“When it fell on her, she started screaming and it shocked me because I could not get it off of her,” he said. " I tried to save her.”

Brandon said that he had been sitting next to his mother right before the incident.

“I heard the wind blowing, then the tree snapped,” he said. “It was too late, it had come through the window.”

He said he was also hit by the tree but was “lucky enough to get up.”

“I don’t know how I did, but I did,” he said. “I guess Mama saved me.”

At least 52 deaths related to Helene have been reported among 4 states as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Associated Press. The storm made landfall in Florida Thursday night as a Category 4 hurricane and brought catastrophic flooding and rainfall to the southeastern U.S.

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