Doctor in viral photo greeting son through glass loses home to tornado

An Arkansas doctor who went viral for a poignant photo showing him separated from his son behind a glass door just lost his house to a tornado over the weekend. Dr. Jared Burks, who's been on the front lines battling the coronavirus pandemic, was inside the home but survived, his wife said on Facebook.

A tornado ripped through Jonesboro, where the Burks live, and injured several people on Saturday, destroying buildings and homes. Dr. Burks wasn't working at the time the tornado struck – but had to face yet another challenge. 

"We are all safe," his wife Alyssa Burks wrote. "Our house is gone. Jared was inside, but he survived by the grace of God. Zeke and I were at my mom's house. Please pray for us as we begin to pick up the pieces."

Days earlier, Mrs. Burks posted a heart-wrenching photo of her husband and her one-year-old boy having a moment through a glass door, each one putting their hands on it. That picture was shared more than 74,000 times on Facebook. 

"Look who we finally got to see today! Not going to pretend that I didn't bawl like a baby when he left to go back to work. We miss him, but we are doing what we have to do. 😢❤️" she wrote last week. 

"Count your blessings," she added. "That's what's getting us through this!" 

Mrs. Burks told a local television station that her husband was self-quarantining because he was treating patients with COVID-19. She also said right before the photo, he saw his son crawl for the first time. 

"As soon as he saw his dad he just raced to the door," Mrs. Burk said. "He got up on the glass because I think he wanted him to hold him, so it was sad, it was cute, but it was really heartbreaking because it's hard."

Friends of the Burks are trying to help them after losing their home and have set up an online fundraiser. The goal of $2,500 was surpassed in just over a day – it collected more than $73,000, as of Monday morning.  

In:
• Tornado