MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A mother and her three children suffered serious burns and lost their home and all their belongings in a fire in Ndibaniso Street, Elangeni.
The mother (36), her five-year-old daughter and seven-year-old twins, one of whom has spina bifida, were saved from their burning home thanks to a 19-year-old resident living near the family.
Spina bifida is a congenital defect where the spinal cord of an unborn baby does not develop properly.
Mossel Bay Advertiser is not giving the family's names as the mother's cellphone burnt in the fire, so the Advertiser could not ask her directly for permission to publish the names.
The informal dwelling caught fire on Monday night, 13 August. The family was rushed to Mossel Bay Provincial Hospital that evening and transferred to George Provincial Hospital the following day.
The mother and the child with spina bifida were transferred to Mossel Bay Provincial Hospital on Wednesday and the other two children were discharged.
A 19-year-old man, Lumzi Staff, spoke to the Advertiser about the horrific evening. "It was about 23:00 on Monday when I heard screaming. When I came out of the house, I saw there was a home down the road that was on fire. I heard people screaming and I rushed there," he said.
The informal dwelling that burnt down. Photo: Supplied
"The door was a wall of fire, so I pushed open the window right next to the door and saw the mother and two of her children standing there. I managed to pull the two children out but called my older brother to help me pull the mother out."
He said that after the three were out, they still heard screaming and crying in the house. The mother said her third daughter was still inside. Staff then went into the burning dwelling, risking his own life to fetch a third child from a bed and get her outside.
He said there was smoke and fire everywhere but that he was not harmed in the rescue. The woman's sister, Nosipho Melane, said Staff then ran to her house, a few kilometres away and told her what had happened.
The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness spokesperson Nadia Ferreira confirmed that two patients were discharged and two patients were transferred to Mossel Bay Provincial Hospital for further treatment.
The Association of and for Persons with Disabilities (APD) Mossel Bay said the child diagnosed with spina bifida attends the daycare at APD.
The fire came just less than two weeks after three people died in two separate house fires in Extension 8 and Brandwag.
Thelma Frans (61) and Delina Jacobs (64), both of Extension 8, died in one house fire on 3 August. Jakobus Hekswa (45) died the following day in a house fire in Brandwag.
A house fire in the Kwa-Nonqaba area was also reported at that time, but no one was hurt.
Mossel Bay APD's Antshuné Mano asked that the Mossel Bay community assist the family in any possible. To help, contact Mossel Bay APD (044 690 3365/084 452 7309 or apdmosselbaai@gmail.com).
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