In this photo taken by Randi Marcucio, the remains of her home collapsed during severe flooding in Oxford, Connecticut, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (Randi Marcucio via AP)
Randi Marcucio was devastated after her home collapsed as a result of Sunday’s deadly floods in Connecticut, but this week she received some good news that warmed her heart and eased her despair.
Ultrasound images of the single mother’s now three-year-old son, who was washed away in floodwaters from the creek next to her Oxford home, were found on a beach in Westport about 30 miles away and returned to her on Wednesday.
“Honestly, it felt like I was holding a piece of my heart, a piece of my soul,” Marcucio, an emergency room nurse, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday night. “To see pictures of your child in your womb and to suffer such a great loss, there are no words. I don’t know how to describe it.”
A stranger, Nancy Lewis, was walking with a friend at Compo Beach in Westport on Monday when she spotted what looked like a photograph in the water. She picked it up and saw that on a single sheet of paper were two ultrasound pictures with Marcucio’s name on them.
She looked up the name and was deeply saddened when she heard the news of Marcucio’s house collapse. Lewis contacted WVIT-TV, which recorded Lewis meeting with Marcucio near the collapsed house to give her the ultrasound images.
“I saw the devastation and read your story – a single mother, emergency room nurse,” Lewis told Marcucio. “I thought you were someone who was always taking care of other people, and I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you beyond this little ultrasound picture I found.”
Marcucio looked at the ultrasound images and held them to her heart.
“That’s him. Thank you,” Marcucio said before hugging Lewis. “That’s incredible. What are the odds?”
Oxford is an inland town on the Housatonic River, about 20 miles north of where the river flows into Long Island Sound between Stratford and Milford. Another 15 miles west is Compo Beach. The creek next to Marcucio’s house flows into the Housatonic.
When at least a foot of rain fell on Sunday, the normally calm creek turned into a raging river, washing away much of the land beneath Marcucio’s house. Her son, Rhylee, was staying with her parents at the time. Marcucio left her house and stayed with neighbors.
The house she bought on Mother’s Day two years ago collapsed the next day – a moment captured on video by a neighbor when Marcucio was away.
She considers herself lucky. The storm wreaked havoc in the region’s towns, washing away bridges, flooding homes and businesses, and prompting numerous rescues. Two women died after being swept away by floodwaters in separate incidents elsewhere in Oxford.
Marcucio is overwhelmed by the support of so many people in the city and across the country. A GoFundMe page has raised about $157,000 for her and her son. A developer is letting them live in one of his condos for a year. Donations of clothing and food have poured in. She said she wanted to thank many people, including workers at the local construction company and construction crews from the city of Oxford.
Marcucio said she spoke with an insurance adjuster and it was unlikely that the destruction of her home would be covered by her policy. Her home was not in a flood zone and she did not have flood insurance and did not think she needed it. Most of the land her home was on is gone, so she does not believe she can rebuild it. She has not had much time to think about the future.
The ultrasound pictures were not wrapped or in a plastic bag. They are among the few belongings she was able to save. She had not expected the house to collapse, nor did she think she would have to move important things. But the night before, she had taken out her son’s teddy bear. Priceless mementos of her mother, who died when she was 12, have disappeared, including a hairbrush and a bottle of perfume.
“Unfortunately, there have been fatalities in my community, so I can’t complain about the material things that have been lost,” she told AP. “The support of the community is helping me to carry on. I haven’t really had time to process all of this or grieve. Right now, it’s just about survival and things like that.”
