Woman, 76, is 2nd Holly death

David Montero, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 28, 2007 at midnight

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Just about a month after a tornado ravaged the town of Holly, the twister is blamed for a second death - 76-year-old Delores Burns.

Burns died Thursday at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs because of complications from injuries sustained in the tornado.

Prowers County Coroner Joe Giadone said Burns had broken ribs, a punctured lung, shattered clavicle and a series of other injuries that eventually took their toll.

"She was one of those strong women - pretty hardy - whose body was worn down and finally gave out," Giadone said, adding there would be no autopsy.

Her son, Roy Burns, was at Valley Memorial Funeral Home on Friday making arrangements for her burial.

He originally found his mother buried under a pile of rubble March 28 after the tornado had destroyed dozens of homes and killed another person - 28-year old Rosemary Rosales.

The tornado destroyed or seriously damaged nearly 50 homes.

Burns ended up pulling an oven off of his mother, using a closet door as a makeshift stretcher and taking her to an ambulance in the tornado's aftermath. She was airlifted out of Holly, where she was being treated before succumbing to her injuries.

Gene Millbrand, funeral director at Valley Memorial, said Delores Burns will be buried Tuesday. The funeral is schedule for 10 a.m. at the Methodist Church on Highway 50.

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