[VIDEO] Chevrolet Gifts New Silverado to a Texas Teen Whose Tornado Encounter Went Viral

By
Mitch Talley
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5
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[VIDEO] Chevrolet Gifts New Silverado to a Texas Teen Whose Tornado Encounter Went Viral


Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve likely already seen that amazing video of the red 2004 Chevy Silverado – maybe even watched it a few times, in fact – that took a licking from a tornado and kept on rolling down a Texas roadway earlier this month.

Now Chevy has made headlines by giving a new 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT All-Star Edition in Cherry Red to the 16-year-old driver who was on his way home from a Whataburger job interview when the storm hit.

Too bad he wasn’t driving a Corvette, huh?

Chevy presented the lucky young man, Riley Leon, with the truck and a $15,000 check during a ceremony Saturday at Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet in Fort Worth, Texas.


The death-defying video shows the EF-2 tornado flipping Leon’s truck on its side, spinning it around 360 degrees and then miraculously landing it upright on its tires before the pickup rolls on down the road. Even more miraculously, Leon suffered only a cut on his arm.

“I was mostly worried about my truck honestly,” Leon told a reporter from the NBC station in Dallas/Fort-Worth. “I didn’t care about myself at that point. It left me speechless seeing how my truck was.”

While the pickup was still running afterwards, the storm did leave the body with many scratches and dents from being struck by debris tossed by the tornado.


Naturally, Leon is grateful for the new truck but says his old pickup has a cherished place in his family’s heart for more than just protecting him from the recent storm.

In fact, Newsweek reports that fixing up the old truck is important to Leon, who says that the truck has been owned by his family for more than a decade and was passed down from his father.

“It’s my truck,” said Leon. “I cannot let it go. It has a lot of sentimental value to me.”

Chevy is betting he will also make a lot more good memories in his new pickup, too.

“When Riley’s Chevy Silverado was hit by 100 mph winds, its strength was tested like never before. Thankfully, he was able to walk away unharmed. Here’s to making memories in your new truck,” Chevrolet said in a social media post.

Leon’s family also will be receiving at least $40,000 thanks to a GoFundMe page started by his school nurse, who became worried about his severe back pain that began after the tornado.

But don’t think Leon’s newfound fame and wealth have gone to his head. He’s still starting his new job at Whataburger this week!


Source:
Motor1.com

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5 COMMENTS

  2. Dumb as a rock. Why didn’t he turn around when he saw the tornado approaching? And he gets a new truck? and $15K? And the family gets $40K? What about everyone else that drives a Chevrolet and lost property (and maybe their car) in the tornado?

  5. Ron, you don’t know the circumstances, you weren’t there, nor was I, It could have touched down just before he was in that area, stop being such a debbie downer.

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