'I'm broken:' In exclusive interview, man tells horrific tale of West Side façade collapse that left him injured and killed his father
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Anthony Wright Jr. lost everything – his father, his home, his belongings.
We heard for the first time Wednesday night from Wright, 32, who was injured Tuesday, April 12 when the façade of the graystone three-flat at 3418 W. Jackson Blvd. in East Garfield Park collapsed as he sat on the porch. His father, Anthony Wright Sr., and his uncle James, both 52, were also sitting on the porch.
Wright's uncle was also injured, while his father did not survive.
In an exclusive interview, CBS 2's Jermont Terry heard Wright's harrowing account.
The building at 3418 W. Jackson Blvd. no longer exists. It was demolished in the days after the tragic collapse.
For Wright Jr., the block where the building stood held so many fond memories for years. But now it is the darkest memory of his life.
"Every time I close my eyes, I see me, my daddy, my uncle on that porch - and we hear a brick fall," Wright Jr. said, "and I look at my daddy trying to run, but he can't make it."
The scene Wright Jr. keeps replaying happened in a horrific real-life afternoon. Images at the scene showed heavy slabs of concrete on the ground. Just imagine how it felt.
"It was hard to breathe… and then looking - I was just looking," he said. "I'm still on shock, but the bricks are all on my body, though."
Anthony Wright Jr. and Sr. and uncle James were sitting on the porch of the family building.
"He doesn't usually sit on the porch like that, and it felt good that day, so we just wanted to get some air and sit on the porch," Wright Jr. said.
Yet while enjoying the breeze, Wright Jr. recalls a crackling sound.
"Next thing you know, something fell, 'Boom!' We all looked and said, 'Damn!' When that brick fell, like everything started shaking. The building started shaking. We just said, 'What the hell?' My daddy tried to get to the door. He didn't get to the door," Wright Jr. said. "It was like people were throwing bricks at you, and you couldn't miss them bricks, you couldn't duck and dodge them at all. They kept just hitting, hitting."
All three became trapped under the heavy stones. The impact broke the stairs, sending Anthony Wright Jr.'s dad and all the concrete to the basement.
"I'm calling my daddy's name, calling my daddy. I'm calling him, calling him, calling him. James said, 'Get this off me.' Like, 'Help me, get this off me/' My dad said, 'Get this off me,'" Wright Jr. said, "and after that, I didn't hear my daddy no more."
A stone knocked Wright Jr. unconscious briefly, and when he came to, he recalls praying to God.
"I asked God, like, 'Is this how I'm about to die? He tells me, 'No, get up,'" Wright Jr. said. "I don't know where the strength come from. I got up."
Bystanders rushed up that afternoon and told us they tried to move the stones.
"I moved, myself, two to three stones. One, you had trapped between his back and shoulder and like leaning over," neighbor Greg Augustus told us on April 12. "They weren't that big – they were able to be picked up - but this slab."
But in getting up and freeing himself, Wright Jr. was able to do something even those bystanders told us that day they couldn't do. He credits his faith.
Terry asked Wright Jr. how much pain he is in.
"A whole lot of pain," he said. "It's throbbing – every day, all night."
He underwent surgery to the shin, and he said his rib is also bruised.
But Wright Jr. said his faith and God and support from his girlfriend are helping hi, on the road to recovery after the unimaginable loss of his father.
The building he knew so well is no longer standing – but Wright Jr. hopes to stand on his own feet without crutches soon.
"I'm broken," he said. "I've never been broken like this before."
Wright Jr. has a long road to recovery. He is going to physical therapy to learn how to walk again.
Since getting out of the hospital, he also returned to what was once his home, and he broke down. Wright Jr. said he can't even drive down Jackson Boulevard anymore.
He considered his father his best friend, and just wishes he could have saved him.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Wright Jr. and his family.
Full interview with Anthony Wright Jr.: