KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? More than five months after a tornado ripped through the city, it claimed another victim.

Sherry Roberts, hospitalized since the May 4 tornado destroyed her home, died Sunday at the University of Kansas Hospital. Family members said she died of a heart attack caused by an infection she could not shake.

Roberts, 46, was asleep when her house in Kansas City, Kan., was hit. The twister threw her about 40 yards into a creek.

Rescuers could see only her fingertips, because of debris piled on her.

Even a month ago, Roberts was doing well enough to talk about leaving the hospital in a couple of weeks.

Her health had worsened since then, but her death still stunned Mike Roberts, her son.

Mike Roberts was serving with the Marines in Iraq at the time of the twister.

He was granted leave to come home because of his mother’s injuries. He has been home since the tornado, and he was working on getting discharged so he could help his mother recuperate.