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Homeowner Bio
A native of St. Bernard Parish, Neils Sand is no stranger to hardship. Throughout his life, Neils has had to cope with the death of two children and his mother, along with a traumatic car accident that left him disabled. Despite the problems Neil has faced, he is certain that he can still get back some part of his former life in St. Bernard Parish for the sake of his son Chris (11).
Before the hurricane struck, Neils had a nice life in St. Bernard. Operating a home improvement store in the Parish, he got to know his neighbors well. Neils always worked as hard as he could, buying his first house at age 20. Before this time, he lost his first-born son, Neils IV, to a degenerative muscle disease. Luckily his second born son, Chris, was not afflicted with the disorder. When his first daughter, Miranda, was born, they discovered that she, too, had the disease. Miranda lived a relatively healthy life all the way until August 2005.
For the time before the storm, Neils’ mother refused to leave her home in the Parish. In order to stay and care for her, Neils took his family to the attic during the storm. Looking out the window, he saw another family sitting on their roof. Knowing that they had no chance of safety there unprotected, Neils jumped onto their roof and created a safe zone by tearing their power ventilation and letting them sit down inside of it. When he jumped across the roof, he cut his knee badly, but he took no time to care for himself with others in need.
For the time after the storm, Neils would swim to get water and food for his family. He was committed to his family regardless of what happened to himself. By the time he was finally rescued by the authorities, his knee was so swollen that he had to be flown to Indianapolis and treated in a hospital for weeks.
After getting out of the hospital, Neils quickly went to Virginia, where his daughter was being cared for in a hospital. During and immediately after Katrina, Miranda’s condition had gotten so bad that this was their final hope. The hospital finally told Neils and his family that there was nothing more that they could do for her. She was terminally ill. Neils made the decision to bring his family back to the Parish. The water had caused so much damage that his neighborhood wasn’t even recognizable. Neils says that nothing was worse than the smell, though. He tried to get living quarters in another area for the sake of his daughter, but nothing was available. Miranda passed away soon after they returned.
Since then, Neils was a victim of a car accident that left him paralyzed. He was not able to continue running his business with the problems that came from the accident. He still experiences problems, and he will have his leg amputated sometime in the near future. Luckily he was able to move in with his mother, and she was a big help in adapting to his current situation. Unfortunately, five months ago, she was also involved in a fatal car accident, when she had a heart attack at the wheel.
Despite the hardships of Neils’ life, he is committed to being the best father he can. He cooks his son a hot meal every night and dreams that one day, he will be able to go back to work. He has many goals for the future, but none are as important as finally regaining a stable living environment for his son. After going through so much loss, he knows that a house is the stability that Chris needs.
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