Fort Worth Chevy dealership gives teen 2022 truck after his was swept up in Texas tornado
When 16-year-old Riley Leon was driving home from a job interview in his 2004 red Chevrolet Silverado 1500, he never expected the bad weather would lead to him being swept into a tornado, but when he was, his worry afterwards wasn’t whether he was OK, it was whether his truck — which he named “La Roja” — was.
“I didn’t care about myself at that point. I was mostly worried about the (damage) done to my truck,” Leon said. “It left me speechless seeing how bad my truck was.”
Leon suffered scratches to his arm and a fractured back, but Saturday afternoon he was in high spirits at Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet in Fort Worth, who had tracked down the teenager to reward him with a brand new 2022 red Chevy Silverado and $15,000 for any other expenses. Leon was joined by his family, who upon entering their brand new truck, embraced with tears in their eyes.
“As a father, it’s really just hard. I think all of us at Chevrolet, when we saw the video, we were all very moved. You know, you see what happened and you think of your child being in that truck spinning around,” said Don Wagner, the regional director for Chevy in the South Central region. “Honestly we’re really pleased and thankful that he was safe, and as soon as we recognized it, we immediately were trying to reach out, trying to find them.”
Although Leon repeated that he was grateful for the new vehicle, he admitted that he hopes there’s a way to repair his old truck that was passed down to him from his father and was home to dozens of memories throughout the years.
“The truck has been running in the family for a generation, before my sister was born, and that truck helped my dad get the house that we live in and everything,” Leon said. “That truck has a lot of sentimental value to me because I worked hard for it. I paid (my dad) off for it and that truck has a lot of value to me and seeing how it ended was hard, but hopefully I can fix it in the future.”
Leon said he was returning from a job interview at an Elgin Whataburger when the tornado flipped his truck onto its right side, spun it 360 degrees nearly into a ditch before whipping it back upright. Leon was able to drive a little down the highway before pulling over.
“It was my first time in a tornado, and hopefully that’s my last time,” Leon said with a smile. “It was in a matter of seconds, never, never believed (this would happen to me). It happened so fast. I didn’t have time to process thoughts in my head.”
Leon plans to start his first shift at Whataburger on Monday. In regards to his injuries, for which a GoFundMe set up by a school nurse has raised over $38,000, he said he’s taking it a day at a time.
“We’re taking it slow right now so it doesn’t get worse; hopefully, in two weeks, it gets better,” Leon said. “I’m thankful (for my community). … They mean a lot to me. Shout out to them for helping me out and my family.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 1:23 PM.
