Alvin family looking to restart after fire destroyed home
ALVIN, TX (KTRK) -- A fire destroyed everything that the McDonald family ever owned. One of the few things they pulled from the rubble were two charred tickets to a J.J. Watt Charity Classic. The Texans star responded to the request with an offer to take an at-bat during the softball game in May.
"This crushed me. Of course you are still welcome Jordan! In fact, how about you take an at-bat for me in the game?" Watt replied.
"It says J.J. Watt Charity Classic," Jordan McDonald said.
Jordan told abc13's Christine Dobbyn that she's a huge Watt fan and remembers his collegiate days at Wisconsin. Posters and other Watt memorabilia were destroyed in the fire.
Eight members of the McDonald family called the place that's now a pile of rubble, home.
"I looked in the vent and saw the flames in the attic and that's when I told everyone to grab your clothes and get out," Jay McDonald said.
But life for the Alvin family hasn't been the same since the end of February. A fire burned through years of memories, leaving little to salvage.
"Staying with my mom and doing what we've got to do," Jay McDonald added. He had to be pulled from his wheelchair by firefighters, and there is no insurance to rebuild.
His wife, Jackie, says the fire created hard times.
"It's hard, I wish it would get buried so we don't have to look at it anymore," Jackie McDonald said.
Their only daughter Jordan arrived to the only home she's known on fire.
"That was my room, and my brother's room, that's where it started," Jordan McDonald said.
The Alvin softball star pitcher and family are living with their grandmother.
"It's been hard but it's more adjusting than anything," she said.
The sophomore has agreed to play for TSU and pitched a couple days after the fire.
"It got my mind off of it and I pitched a perfect game," she added.
The teen actually played linebacker for her junior high football team. Now it's her softball team and community rallying around the family, raising thousands of dollars in many different ways.
"This is my first year at Alvin so I got to see what it's all about," Jordan's coach David McCorkle said. "Stepping up and helping out a teammate, community member and everybody has done everything they possible can."
But recovery is still one day at a time.
"I know we'll do it as a family and that's all that matters," Jordan added.
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