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Show THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Wednesday, November Page A8 Miami zoo to honor girl killed in hurricane Storm-ravage- d By JOHN DONNELLY Knight-Ridde- r Newspapers MIAMI In the hours before the hurricane, Naomi Browning worried about the animals at the Metrozoo. The worked as a volunteer there, and she loved the tigers and sea otters more than anything in the world. "She said nothing about herself," said Marijke Browning, her mother. 'She thought only of the ld animals." And then the storm took omi's life 4, 1992 Na- roof dagger-lik- e beams from a house three blocks Hurricane survivor commits suicide away flew into her Homestead house and struck her dead as her brother, Roger, sat on a bed, untouched, next to her. trozoo, itself devastated by the storm. So far, the checks total $1 It touched the zoo so much that After her death, the family its leaders decided to name an exasked that donations in her name hibit after their young volunteer be sent to Metrozoo. Naomi had the Naomi Browning Tiger Temwanted it that way. ple. "Three w eeks before the storm, In a Dec. 5 ceremony for South out of the blue, she told me, 'When Dade County children only, called I die, I want to be cremated, and I Christmas Miracle at Metrozoo, don't want any flowers,'" Marijke the temple will be dedicated. "It's not a memorial type of Browning said. "I want any mon'" ey to be sent to the Metrozoo. thing," said Ron Magill, the zoo's And so checks of $5, $10 and assistant curator. "It's a tribute to more, in the memory of Naomi her spirit and to children. Metrozoo, more than naming something Browning, began arriving at Me 3jAT C ALL PRICES OR BELOW WHOLESALE! 7 this, maybe other children will Browning, who runs a ceramics know they can make something of shop in Homestead with his wife. after some company or some big benefactor, wanted to do something for what it stands for children." At first, the Brownings weren't so sure they wanted the tribute. They didn't want anyone to interpret it as exploiting their daughter. And they themselves didn't want the attention. But they've come to understand it as an inspiration for young people like their daughter. "It's always older people that they name these things after," Marijke Browning said Monday at their Homestead home. "With rTLTI themselves. Kids can be famous, too. And I don't think they have to be dead to be famous." Naomi herself lacked confidence. She was the type of child w ho didn't want to walk on stage to accept a plaque; she sent her mother. She preferred reading Stephen King novels at night than going out with friends. She loved animals most of all. "When we would go shopping or go to the mall, she would rather stay at home and mess with the animals," said her father, Larry A She nursed back to health stray d cats and birds.: At home, she took care of a dog (Bruno), five cats (Peaches, Blackie, Turbo, Trut and Paws), a hamster (Spike) and a guinea pig (Teddy). broken-winge- At the Browning house, the reminders of the loss are everywhere. Her bowling bag is on the patio. There's a box of her books. And there's always the cats, which the family says continue to call for Naomi. LPvOfSf) JV1KMjS nnJJj7V- c -- By TONY ROGERS : Associated Press Writer - CUTLER RIDGE, Fla. Peggy Worthman thought she and her husband had survived the worst of times when they rode out Hurricane Andrew together. They huddled in their home and held hands as the storm roared past. The toll was severe. Their home was damaged, the furniture business they had built together was leveled and, somehow, Lloyd Worthman was not the same man as before. retired Army The sergeant became depressed and forgetful, and took to sitting around the house all day in his pajamas. Less than three weeks later, the lay down on the floor of the couple's home, put a pistol to his head and pulled the trigger. Psychiatrists say the terror of riding out a hurricane can leave a person suffering from stress disorder, an ailment usually associated with combat veterans. For some, the stress may only 'ncrease. "You have no control in a hurricane you cither live through it or not. It can be so traumatic that people come out in an absolute state of shock. If it's not treated, it can become worse and worse," said Joseph Zealberg, a psychiatrist and director of the Emergency Psychiatry Mobile Crisis Program in Charleston, S.C. He treated victims of hurricanes Andrew and Hugo, which slammed into South Carolina in cnce-cheerf- ul .38-calib- er post-traumat- ic 1989. Mrs. Worthman doesn't know why her husband killed himself; she only knows it had something to do with the storm. When Andrew struck Aug. 24, the couple took refuge in a spare bedroom in the center of their home. The house shook as doors were blown down and sections of roof were torn away. Worthman sat in a chair wedged against the door, his head in his hands. "The wind came through here and sounded like a freight train," Mrs. Worthman said. "It was a terrible sound, just terrible." When they ventured out to survey the wreckage, Worthman was shaken and silent. "He was in shock when he walked out of that room that morning," she said. "He was just a different person." In the days that followed, Worthman was listless and withdrawn, unable to face the task of rebuilding his home and business. "I'd say, 'Let's go to the store.' We'd get in the car and we'd get almost there and then he'd say, 'Oh, I forget the keys.'" Mrs. Worthman said. "He didn't want to see the place. He couldn't bear w i L ( L ' IS&jxx) W l 1 it." Mrs. Worthman suggested he see a doctor. He agreed to. but never went. On the morning of Oct. 12, Worthman seemed in good spirits. He fixed his wife breakfast in bed oatmeal with bananas. Late that afternoon, she left the house to run errands. When she returned an hour later, Worthman wasn't around. As it got dark, she started to worry. She searched the house again, checking the spare bedroom where they had endured Andrew. The door was locked; she had to pry the lock open. There was her husband, lying in the same spot where he had sat out the hurricane. This time, a gun was lying across his chest. "I said, 'Honey, don't do that!' I grabbed the gun and threw it on the bed. Then I saw the blood." Mrs. Worthman is fixing her home, and will try to rebuild the furniture business. 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