Family overwhelmed by generosity
Single mum Silvia Lewis had been at work five minutes when her phone went off.
The voice at the other end told Lewis the home she shared with her two children was on fire and she needed to return.
‘‘I freaked out,’’ she said. ’’I went into panic mode and quickly shot home, then more phone calls came in. It was only a 10-minute drive, but it felt like forever,’’ she said.
Lewis arrived home to find her Clawton St house smouldering. The blaze had destroyed one half of the house and caused extensive heat and smoke damage to the other.
At its peak, about 20 firefighters were in attendance and plumes of smoke could be seen across the suburb of Westown, New Plymouth. Lewis, who does not have contents insurance, said she lost everything, including presents she’d bought at K-Mart for her son Maximus-Blaze who turns two years old on Saturday.
‘‘My initial reaction was to cry because it hit me, all my photos and stuff,’’ Lewis said.
‘‘I don’t even know how to say it. I went into shock and I kinda didn’t know what to do.’’
For Lewis, it was also losing her children’s belongings that hit hardest, especially the memory boxes she had created for her daughter Ciana,8, and son.
‘‘You know they were for their first this and their first that. That stuff’s not replaceable but I’ll remember those things in my head until I go senile,’’ Lewis said.
Lewis began the morning of the fire with a skip in her step because it was her first day in her new job as a merchandiser. She had dropped her boy off to daycare and then her daughter, along with her two nieces, off at their mum’s because they had a sleepover the night before.
While her mind has been constantly going since she left her house, Lewis is grateful to her family and friends who have rallied to show their support.
Lewis has been buoyed by the kindness of strangers whose generosity had been overwhelming, she said.
‘‘I’m so blown away. I had nothing the other day and now so many people have like wanted to give us stuff.
‘‘I didn’t expect anything like this, I’m just so thankful cos I didn’t know what to do.’’
Lewis and her children are currently staying with family and she was grateful for the support from her cousin and close friend Teresa Julian.
Julian was helping Lewis manage all the offers of support she had received since Tuesday’s fire. People had dropped off clothes for Lewis’ children, donated toys, clothes, household items and more, Julian said.
‘‘The love I have been feeling from all these people has almost bought me to tears quite a few times,’’ she said. For people who want to help Silvia and her family visit www.facebook.com/ raisinghopeformyfamily.