Tragedy to Triumph for Farmer Family

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Jesse Farmer was in the backyard cleaning up pieces of his home that was crushed during the horrid tornado that hit Bridgeton, Missouri on April 22 when two representatives from the St. Louis Rams walked up.

A week later Farmer and his family went from the depths of a terrible nightmare turned reality to New York City where Jesse helped the organization call their fourth pick in this year’s NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Farmer, who played football at . “I’ve watched the draft for the past six years and never thought I’d be doing this.”

Members of the Rams’ front office saw a segment on a local news station showing Farmer and his Pattonville teammates cleaning up the yard. It was enough to offer a gesture of good faith for a Rams fan in need of a solid boost in morale.

"We saw an opportunity to leverage this once-in-a-lifetime NFL Draft experience to help lift the spirits of those impacted by last week's devastating tornado," said Molly Higgins, vice president of corporate communications/civic affairs, St. Louis Rams. "Fortunately, we had many survivors to choose from, but when we learned of Jesse's story, he seemed to be the perfect representative for the St. Louis community. We were proud to send him and his family to New York City and give them a break from the challenges they are facing at home.”

Before making the final decision, Higgins said the team contacted Pattonville School District and spoke with staff members including the head football coach Steve Smith, who praised Jesse for his consistent leadership both on and off the field of play and praised his leadership values.

In an email that Smith sent to the Rams, he said, “Jesse Farmer has been a standout athlete for the Pattonville Athletic Programs. Jesse has been a model citizen over his high school career and is a true leader.”

He captained the football team at Pattonville and was named all-conference as an offensive guard/defensive end, and qualified for states as a wrestler.

When the storm hit, he was bravely trying to secure his grandmother to a safer place in the house.

After the storm hit, he and his father Ron checked on neighbors and began to pull people from their basements and constricted areas of other homes.

“It was chaos,” said Ron, who joined Jesse in New York along with his wife Joan and daughter Darcy. “It ripped part of the house off.”

The Farmer home has been condemned and is structurally unfit to live in. Ron said it would take four to six months before they get back in the house and are spending their time in a Comfort Inn for now.

The change of scenery to New York City, a destination the Farmer family has never visited, was certainly welcome. They ate at the famous Carnegie Deli, toured Central Park and stayed at the Hilton.

The highlight, however, was Jesse sitting at the Rams table and announcing that Greg Salas from the University of Hawaii will be heading to St. Louis. He also had a meet-and-great with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We’re overwhelmed,” Ron said. “You see the things you lost and it’s kind of depressing. Being able to come up here for two days is just great. It’s relaxing.”

They head back to St. Louis on Sunday and face reality again as the clean up continues in their neighborhood.

“I’m thankful from something bad that happens, good can come of it,” said Jesse, who plans to be an EMT/firefighter and will attend Meremac Community College in the fall.