5-year-old Calista Dixon was so intent on being a caregiver when she grew up that she insisted on being called 'Doctor Cali,' according to Omaha.com. Calista, her mother Kandi Murphree, 4-year-old sister Robin and 21-year-old brother Cody had just moved to Pilger, Nebraska in February from Alabama to help out her grandparents, Les and Kay Labenz, who suffered from health problems.
On Monday, Calista was killed when one of a rare pair of massive twin tornadoes ripped through the town and struck the family's mobile home on Main Street. Kandi Murphee remained in the hospital Wednesday in critical condition after sustaining a brain injury, Al.com reports. 4-year-old Robin escaped with minor injuries. Just a mile down the road, Les and Kay Labenz also lost their home. But nothing could compare to the loss of the sweet little girl who loved to help people.
(MORE: Town of Pilger Devastated)
"It breaks our hearts that our five-year-old angel Cali has left us," the Labenzes said in a statement. "Cali's dream was to be a doctor and help people when she grew up. Maybe God has a job for her now."
On Monday, Kandi had just gotten off of work picked the girls up from their grandparent's house and taken them home when the skies got stormy, Omaha.com reports. As the tornadoes approached, 21-year-old Cody, who was at work in Wayne, called his mother to warn her to get out of the house and find shelter. But the family wasn't able to escape in time and the mobile home took a direct hit.
'From what I hear, they were trying to make it to across the street to either the bank or the gas station, but by that time it was just too late and everything hit,' Murphree told KTMV.
Calista's father, Elijah Dixon of Athens, Alabama, found out about his daughter's death while at work at an Applebees in Madison, AL on Monday, Al.com reports. He is traveling to Pilger to help plan Calista's funeral. Kandi Murphree remains in a medically induced coma is still unaware of her daughter's death, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.
Dixon's mother, Sheryl Scales of Madison, says that her heart breaks for Robin, who was incredibly close to her big sister.
"They were inseparable," she told Al.com. "Where one went, the other went. That's going to be the hard part."
Photos on the family’s Facebook page show two beautiful, smiling girls in pink dresses with their mother and brother.
“Her name was Calista,” Cody Murphree told Omaha.com. “She was a beautiful five-year-old girl who only wanted to be a doctor.”
On a segment on KRVN FM, he asked for clothing donations for his younger sister, size 4-T or 5-T and other household items. His coworkers at Heritage Homes in Wayne have established a fund to help the family. Donations can be made to First Nebraska Bank, PO Box 10, Wayne, NE 68787. More information is available on the Heritage Homes Facebook page, which you can view by clicking here.
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