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Man’s faith unshaken after losing wife in landslide disaster
NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Nearly one year after Hurricane Helene unleashed deadly landslides across the North Carolina mountains, one man is sharing his story of heartbreak, survival, and the strength that keeps him going.
For Jamie Guinn, the mountains around Elk River had always been a place of comfort.
“I grew up here, I grew up around Elk River,” Jamie said.
It meant so much to him, he even asked his wife, Melissa, to name their son after it.
“She finally let me win and go with River…”
River wasn’t just a name; it was a symbol of their life together. A life Jamie still reaches for every day.
“I still catch myself about calling her, I almost text her every morning I get to work,” he said.
“I keep having snapshots in my mind every single day.”
Those memories are now tied forever to the day the mountain changed everything.
“I can remember her looking around the house and I could tell she was really overwhelmed…I can remember putting my arms around her and telling her at least we still had each other.”
But that comfort was short-lived. First, a landslide wiped away their garage. Then came another.
“Just an explosion all at once, no roaring sound, no warning, no nothing.”
That blast threw Jamie and 8-year-old River 50 feet down the mountain and into the water.
“I can just remember being crushed inside the house and I remember having the thought in my head ‘I guess this is how I die.’”
But then, something, or someone, pushed him forward.
“I could hear River, and I started pulling pieces of the house off River.”
And then they heard her.
“I remember looking up on the bank and seeing her and she screamed to ‘watch out.’”
Melissa was warning them…another landslide was coming.
“I kept screaming for her, I never could see her.”
And then came the words Jamie will never forget.
“River turned around and looked at me and said, ‘Daddy, I think mommy’s gone.’”
Jamie didn’t want to leave her. But he had to protect their son.
“I was so scared another one would come and hit me and him.”
He carried River to safety, first to a neighbor’s house, then to the hospital. His own injuries barely registered.
“At that time they hadn’t found her and all I kept saying was that she was still gone, we didn’t know where she was at.”
Eventually, they did find Melissa. And while Jamie lost the love of his life, he never lost his faith.
“I went through this, I lost her, but not for a second, I didn’t lose an ounce of faith, and I know I’ll get to see her again…so…”
Melissa still surrounds them, in memories, in love notes Jamie used to leave her, and in one special discovery: a blanket he gave her as an early anniversary gift, found in the debris after the storm.
And most of all, in River…their son, their miracle.
“He’s meant for something, he has definitely been saved for something.”
A year later, Jamie says the love he shared with Melissa is still what defines his life.
“People may think it’s crazy, but I probably consider myself one of the luckiest people ever.”
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