Father of youngest person killed in deadly storms talks about his baby girl

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Since the tornado, survivors are trying to balance their sadness for what they lost with their gratitude for what they have. That’s true even for someone like Doug Koon, who lost his two-month-old daughter.

There isn’t much left of Doug’s mother-in-law’s house, where he and his family went to weather the storm. They thought it would be safer since they live in a mobile home.

They were secured in the bathroom, and they’re still not sure if the house was dragged away or picked up and dropped nearby.

After making sure their other two boys were okay, they thought they were in the clear.

”I thought everything was good, you know. In my mind we’re all going to make it. We’re all beat up but we’re going to make it,” said Doug. ‘We all just lived through this.”

Then they noticed their daughter, Oaklynn, wasn’t herself. She was life-flighted to Evansville, and then to Louisville where doctors told them if she lived she would be brain-dead. Doug and his wife decided together to remove life support.

”You know I can’t sit there and watch her suffer like that, and she can’t either,” said Doug.

It’s not hard to see how much Doug loved her, and he thinks of her as exceptional.

”She was an angel, man. She really was. She was the best baby. No matter what kind of day I was having, I could have the worst day ever, but as soon as I got home and I seen her, I was good.”

Now they’re having to turn their attention to their other two boys, and be strong for them.

”It’s hard, it really is because I try not to break down in front of them because I don’t want them to break down too bad either,” said Doug, “but I know they have to go through the grieving process just like I do.”

For now, he says he’s focused on giving them a good Christmas.

Despite how much Doug and his wife are hurting, they made a point of saying they’re grateful for everything the people around them have done for them.

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