“Absolutely amazing:” Hurricane victims receive RV donated by Sioux Falls family

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) — He still breaks down and cries when asked about it.

After all, it hasn't even been two months since the most devastating night of his life — when his Sweet Dreams come true were wiped away by Mother Nature's unrelenting nightmare.

Less than two years ago, Rob Flannery gave up his life as a traveling electrical engineer to settle down in the great outdoors and start a campground with his wife Christy in rural North Carolina, just outside of scenic Ashville.

Sweet Dreams North Cove had a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the serenity of the wilderness, and the soothing peace and quiet for those looking to escape from life's worries.

In fact, Rob — an Air Force veteran who worked on electrical systems of missiles used in the Gulf War — specifically bought the land and built the seven-lot facility for veterans seeking tranquility to heal their mental health issues. PTSD, in particular.

Just 18 months after living out his dream, it was shattered overnight by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 28, as western North Carolina was part of a path of destruction that covered over 500 miles and walloped six states, from Florida to Virginia (plus, four other countries in the Caribbean).

It killed at least 225 people in the U.S. and left almost 100 missing. It demolished thousands of homes and businesses to the tune of an estimated $250 billion according to Accuweather. Millions more were left without electricity or water for days if not weeks.

Rob and Christy were in Tennessee with his daughter and newborn grandchild that night. Asked by Dakota News Now to describe what they saw when they returned to Sweet Dreams within a few days, Rob drew speechless, sobbing.

"Basically it was just gone. Like, everything," Rob said, then again paused to wipe tears and compose himself.

"You put your life into making something and building it, and in a day it's all logjams. It was way worse than what I could've even imagined. Yeah, it was pretty rough."

Dozens of trees surrounding the campground came smashing down on top of it, obliterating abandoned campers — the site had been evacuated after authorities made guests aware a hurricane was coming — and leaving piles of debris that amounted to 10 feet high in some spaces.

His own home — a garden shed on the property he converted to house both the business office and tiny make-shift bedroom and bathroom — was also destroyed. All electricity and running water, gone.

Rob sat down on a rock, cried for a long time, prayed, and recalls God telling him, "It's okay to cry. Now go put your boots on."

Within a few weeks, Rob would be bawling again. This time, tears of joy.

On Monday, Oct. 21, he received a call notifying him that a used but like-new Shadow Cruiser Ultra Lite luxury RV was coming to Sweet Dreams.

It was a gift from a family of fellow veterans living about 1,300 miles away in South Dakota, people he had never met, whose wishes were the camper was delivered to a veteran or veteran's family whose home was ousted by the hurricane.

"I just started crying, because we were working against what seemed like impossible odds," Rob said. "Then, God had orchestrated all that to come together from people we didn't even know a long ways away. And, to be able to put all that together and just to help, specifically for veterans, specifically what we were praying about...

"I just couldn't believe it, really. I'm a grown man, and I just burst into tears, quite frankly."

Sometime in the middle of last week, the Shadow Cruiser finally arrived. Again, tears of joy. Asked what message he wanted to send the donors from South Dakota, Rob said this:

"They are going to, for a long long time, impact somebody's life that they will never even meet, and may never even know who they are. They're going to, because of their kindness, their generosity, their willingness to be uncomfortable, they're going to change people's lives — and maybe indirectly, and that's okay.

"I think all of us when, we do good things and help people, we may never know the impact that makes in their life fully, and you know, we all have the opportunity to change people's lives in some way along the way, and that's exactly what they've done. It's been amazing."

The brains behind the South Dakota donation operation is Stephanie Spader Pavlik. The daughter of Vietnam War veteran Bill Peters and his wife Sue — both serve in roles with American Legion Post 15 in Sioux Falls — Stephanie had wanted to help her parents find a new home for the camper, which the family had used for a few years but was still in mint condition.

Then, a couple weeks after the hurricane, it hit her.

"We thought it would be awesome to find a veteran family down there that lost everything," Stephanie said of those ravaged by Hurricane Helene.

Four days after that, Stephanie made a Facebook post:

As I sit here this morning, I'm reflecting on an opportunity we have to bless a veteran family, that literally lost everything in hurricane Helene, with a camper. I love that we will be able to provide them a place to reside and I hope it will be a blessing to them. As I was cleaning the camper this past weekend, I prayed that it would comfort and bring joy to them as they make it their "home". I just can't imagine losing my home in an instant. Please pray with me that this camper and everything that we hope to send with it will be a light in the midst of a dark time for this family. Please pray that they will be able see God in this transaction, and trust that He has a beautiful plan for their family."

On Oct. 21, the same day Rob broke down in tears upon receiving the news about the camper for the first time, Stephanie choked up when Dakota News Now asked her why she felt so compelled to make this all happen.

"Our family has lost a lot ourselves," Stephanie said. "I lost a daughter. I lost a nephew. I lost a husband. We've never lost our home. We've never lost everything. We've had each other. We've had family. So, these people that have literally lost everything, you know, it was just a way that we could give back."

Before the camper took off from Sioux Falls, Stephanie and her nonprofit foundation, Unbroken and Brave , raised over $11,000 and filled it with supplies needed for someone to live out of a camper — clothes, non-perishable food, toilet paper, plates, silverware, generators, and more.

"Oh, its completely set up," Rob said. "Everything to start using it and not worrying about going out and sourcing all those things. Sometimes when you buy a camper, you still have buy your cords and hoses and all that stuff. It came with all that. That was an amazing thing, the thoughtfulness that went into all that."

So, how did the Shadow Cruiser end up at Rob's campground? Stephanie made many friends in the camping world through her husband Tony, an avid outdoorsman who took his own life in 2021. He owned Spader's RV Center in Sioux Falls before he died.

When she heard in early October about friends in Minnesota who donated a camper to people in North Carolina who lost their house in Hurricane Helene, Stephanie knew she wanted to do the exact same thing.

Those friends helped a chain reaction that led to a church group in North Carolina suggesting the Flannery's receive the camper. Stephanie was thrilled the camper went to not just a veteran, but a veteran who helps other veterans.

Rob and Christy will not live in the Shadow Cruiser. They have their own camper, which the had traveled with to Tennessee during the time the hurricane wiped out Sweet Dreams North Cove and their shed.

Instead, the Shadow Cruiser is there for someone who is looking for a refuge and a new beginning — veteran or non-veteran.

"The sacrifices of putting the finances together, and the ability to get it here, and to have it all that together was absolutely amazing," Rob said.

"There's a spot here that I think is a beautiful spot when you wake up here in the morning and you can watch the sun come out over the mountain. There's river behind it. It's so beautiful. You know, that'd be a great place for someone to be able to have the peace and freedom to wake up in peace and not have all the worries coming at them first thing in the morning, and just have a chance to gather themselves. It was amazing. The guys that brought it were amazing. It's all just been an amazing series of events."

Rob thought it would take six months to restore Sweet Dreams North Cove to make it ready for guests again. For about the first 10 days after the hurricane, he and Christy tried to remove trees and debris themselves.

Depleted and dejected, Rob wrote a Facebook post (since taken down), with pictures of the literally scorched and swamped Earth.

"We have lost our home and our business is completely devastated. It's only the 2 of us trying to cleanup and remove log jams, debris, sand, rock, mud and everything else that came with Hurricane Helene. We still do not have power or water and signal is very limited. We only have a tractor and some shovels and rakes but we are doing our best and have barely even made a dent. I'm asking anyone with any type of machinery that could help ... Please help."

Within a few days, dozens of strangers — from Ohio to Virginia to Charlotte to Army cadets and veterans in South Carolina — flocked to his ravaged wasteland of fallen trees to clean up and help Rob and Christy start over. Some brought excavators. Lifelong friendships were forever forged, along with a campground that looks brand new and better than before.

Rob plans to re-open Sweet Dreams North Cove in about a week — two months after a real-life nightmare shattered his real-life dream.

He was asked what he makes of all this. Of a literal whirlwind of destruction and despair and pain and plight, followed by a barrage of the best of humanity that built it all back up, from the ground up.

And, of the Shadow Cruiser Ultra Lite RV that sits as a symbol of the good in the world, from South Dakota with love.

"The very first thing is — God can do it, Rob said. "And, I have witnessed it and I just can't hardly believe what has happened in such a short period of time. That had to be a God thing."

He started sobbing again.

"It's just the.... This might sound crazy but... sorry, I'll gather myself."

He paused again and regathered himself and recalled the early days of clean-up and restoration.

"I found a flag, it was one of my American flags that was in a pile, a pile of rubble, and I dug it out."

Another sob. Another pause.

"You know what? This is America. This is the freest, greatest country in the world. I served this country and I'm proud of that. And you know what, man? At least I have the opportunity to put my boots on and do something about it, and that's what we did.

"Wasn't easy, wasn't comfortable. Wasn't fun. But I had the freedom to do that. There's a lot of people who don't have that freedom."

He planted the flag in the middle of the campground. For the last two months, it's been an unwavering representation of what Sweet Dreams are made of.