Watauga County man recovering after being pinned down by piano

WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY HOMETOWN ) — “We don’t need any more water, right now. Our cup is full.”

There never seems to be an end to the growing list of needs at the Mountaineer Ruritan Club in Sugar Grove, North Carolina.

‘These are unprecedented times,’ is a phrase you hear over and over. Looking around, the damage from Hurricane Helene is everywhere and for many, it hasn’t settled in.

“Mud, it was a mudslide, that’s what hit the house,” said Wiley Sherwood.

Wiley can’t turn his back and his knee is wrapped in a makeshift brace, after being pinned by a piano when a mudslide hit his home.

“I figured that was the end of my rope. I couldn’t get my lower body out, I could wiggle my toes. I knew I wasn’t paralyzed,” remembered Wiley.

While the needs grew, so did the response. In under an hour, the gym at Cove Creek Elementary School filled up with food, bath supplies and clothes.

“In a way, it hadn’t really set in, but people are so nice,” said Wiley.

All Wiley has now are the clothes on his lap and memories in his mind.

“That house is full of memories of her, that hurts. That hurts so much,” said Wiley.

He built his home in 1969 with the love of his life, Diana. They were married for 53 years. They had four kids, 11 grandkids, and 6 great-grandchildren. She passed away in 2021.

“It’s just one of them things,” sighed Wiley, looking at what was left of his house.

He spent three hours pinned by that piano until his son and firefighters came to his rescue.

“It wasn’t unbearable, I was just pretty much scared,” said Wiley.

The house is totaled, the roof is ruined, and the mudslide hit the house so hard that all the bricks fell off. Seeing it now, he said, there’s only one thing that makes sense.

“He wrapped His loving arms around me, that’s the only thing that saved me,” said Wiley.

So many have lost homes… lives. “There’s a lot of hurting people, a lot more than me,” said Wiley.

The pain is heavy, but it is shared. “I’ve never seen people pull together like that,” said Wiley.

When uncertainty is certain and life is overwhelming, you often find that what people need most… is each other. “I’ll never be able to say thank you enough to people like this.”

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