UCO Students Help Hamil Family Recover Damaged Photographs

Lisa Monahan, News 9

EDMOND, Oklahoma -- A tornado devastated the town of Piedmont back in May. Families lost their possessions and for one family even their children.

Four months later the mother of two little boys killed in the tornado is reclaiming a piece of the family's past.

News of Catherine Hamil's family tragedy quickly spread across the state and the country. The Hamil family says they have received support from all over including students from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

Hamil recovered only a handful of their family photos after the tornado. Most of them are scratched, muddy or torn.

UCO professor Mark Zimmerman and a group of students are working to restore pictures found in a field in Piedmont, a few of which belonged to the Hamils.

Students are scanning and retouching each photograph with the tornado victims in mind. So Catherine Hamil, who has lost so much, can get a small part of her life back.

The family said they have had some of their belongings returned from as far away as Edmond, Stillwater and Kansas.

See Related Story 6/23/2011: Hamil Family Releases Statement After Losing 2 Sons In Piedmont Tornado