Pick Me Up! Special – September 2019

All our belongings

had turned to ash

N GER

Itshowsthe

importanceofa

smokealarm

It really could have

been so much worse

the birth of Minnie.

It was our special place, and we’d

always felt safe there.

Now to watch it transform into an

empty shell was heartbreaking.

The fire service arrived quickly

and extinguished the blaze within a

matter of minutes.

But I knew immediately that the

smoke damage would be massive.

Just from the quick glance I’d got

opening the door, the kitchen looked

to be far beyond repair.

‘Thank you so much,’ I said

weakly to the officers.

But inside, all I could think about

was what was waiting for me and

the kids inside my precious house.

The next few days flew by in a

hellish blur and we immediately

moved in with my parents.

When I was allowed back in to

my house, I was in shock.

‘Oh my god,’ I gasped, taking in

the damaged,

blackened sight.

I couldn’t

believe my eyes.

What we were

going to do?

It was like

something out of a

nightmare - our

warm, cosy home

completely

covered in ash.

The children’s

toys lay around,

broken and

blackened – barely

anything had escaped unscathed.

As I’d expected, my kitchen was

completely destroyed in the fire.

Tears filled my eyes as I looked

around, taking in the damage.

It didn’t look anything like my

beautiful family home.

For the millionth time since it had

happened, I wondered how on earth

I’d pay for it all.

How would we survive?

After I’d had a chance to poke

around by myself and come to terms

with it, I brought Missy in to take a

look at the mess.

‘You should see the house for

yourself,’ I said gently to her.

‘I can’t believe it!’ she said

tearfully, staring at the ruins.

I wrapped an arm around her as

we stood in the living room.

I didn’t want to scare her, but I

wanted her to see the extent of the

carnage so she understood why we

couldn’t go home again.

‘We were very lucky to all get out

unharmed,’ I said softly as she

stared at the sooty carpet.

Eventually, she nodded at me.

‘I know,’ she said.

Six months passed before we got

our new house nearby.

I found the company that

produced the damaging tumble

dryer, Whirlpool.

And, although I fought, they

refused to accept any liability or pay

any compensation for our loss.

Starting afresh has left us barely

able to make ends meet.

We’ve all accepted that we’ll

have to live a very basic life for

the near future.

Some days I still can’t believe

what happened and all that we lost.

I have to drive past the old house

often, and I’m constantly reminded

of our near-death experience.

It makes it hard to forget.

Still, even after all we’ve been

through I feel lucky.

We lost things - important things,

but still just things.

I shudder to think of what I could

have lost in the fire - my four

precious children.

That’s what really matters in life.

REAL LIFE