Tree crushes camper with Wisconsin family of 5 inside

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A western Wisconsin family has awesome escape story after a falling tree destroyed their camper in a weekend storm.

Dana and Charlie Weber were getting their 3 sons tucked into bed inside a pop-up camper on their friends’ cabin property when a near-catastrophe happened. They’re not sure if it was lightning or wind, but whatever it was snapped a large tree in half, with the splintered trunk and thick limbs crashing down right on top of them.

“I got blasted in the head with something,” Charlie said. “She was just screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.’ It was the most terrifying experience I ever had in my life.”

The 3 boys, grouped together on one side of the camper, were all pinned underneath the wood, fiberglass and foam insulation. See a photo gallery of the crushed camper at http://www.fox9.com/news/11813386-gallery

“It hit the back of the trailer and we all kind of just moved,” Dana said. “From our view, it looked like the kids were completely smashed. We couldn’t see anything.”

Dana and Charlie raced around the flattened portion of the camper to free their children. As they pulled away the debris, they found 3-year-old Dominic motionless.

“Dominic was lying face first. His hands were down by his side. He wasn't moving,” Charlie said. “It was the worst thing that went through my head. I reached down and grabbed him, picked him up, and he jumped awake.”

It turns out Dominic somehow slept through the whole ordeal that will become part of Weber family lore. Their friends helped make a cross from the fallen tree that they see as a permanent reminder of a higher power keeping watch over them Saturday night.

“We just all stood outside giving so much thanks we survived, because they shouldn’t have survived,” Charlie said.