Friend remembers Tuscaloosa tornado victim

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (WALA) - THE LAST MOMENTS

Stewart Freeman recalled the last moments of her friend 22 year-old Ashley Harrison.

”She was with her boyfriend and his two roommates and their two dogs, all together in a closet and everyone walked away but the dogs and Ashley,” Freeman told us.

A young life over in an instant. Harrison died when the massive tornado passed directly over her boyfriend’s home in the Victory Gardens neighborhood of Tuscaloosa.

Her parents, who flew in from Texas late Wednesday night, were inconsolable as they looked around at what’s left.

Freeman who was Ashley’s roommate, said her friend’s last moments must have been terrifying.

“The house is completely gone,” Freeman said as she pointed. “The cinderblocks and foundation and that’s it everything else is all over here. This is Carson’s closet (Ashley’s boyfriend) and some of her belongings… it’s just a tragedy.”

RESCUERS CONTINUE TO WORK

Marion Perret is one of many rescuers who worked through the night looking for Ashley. By Thursday morning he was shell-shocked, even though he’s from Gretna, Louisiana and did recovery after Katrina.

“This is just a blender of everything. Everything was still sort of in place after Katrina this is just people and things everywhere. It’s just blowing my mind,” Perret said.

As hard as it is to deal with death, Perret says he’ll keep going.

“We still have survivors until we find a body,” Perret said.

A body which signals the end of a life, and in some cases ones that had barely started.

“Ashley was a great girl and she lived a great life. She was a happy-go-lucky, beautiful, personable gal and she will really be missed,” Freeman said.

Freeman and Ashley were moving on from the University of Alabama this spring and were headed up to Washington D.C. for an internship. They planned on being roommates up there as well.