I let two kids down – I’m no hero, says father
Crawling on his hands and knees with thick black smoke filling his home as he tried to battle the intense heat from the flames, Des Cooke knew it was unlikely the two children were alive. But he had to try.
‘‘Against all instinct, they tell you never go back into a burning building. But when you are in that moment you don’t think,’’ he said.
Cooke’s 9-month-old daughter, Arianna, and 8-year-old stepson, Brayden, died in a house fire in their Christchurch home in Vivian St, Burwood, about 10.40pm on Tuesday.
Yesterday, Cooke spoke of his grief, flashbacks to the fire and feelings of guilt. ‘‘I let two kids down, I let people down by not being able to save them.’’
He had put his daughter down to sleep shortly after his partner, Nicole Mulligan, left to buy groceries for her four children’s breakfast.
‘‘I . . . gave her a kiss and a cuddle, not realising it was going be the last one.’’
To keep her room warm, he turned on the fan heater, which the couple bought months earlier because their heat pump was not working.
He is unsure how much time passed before the smoke alarms went off. Heading to the hallway door, he smelt smoke.
Then he saw flames coming from the bedroom he and Mulligan shared with Arianna.
His response was panic. ‘‘I tried to get into the bedroom . . . the flames were right near the doorway.
‘‘I tried to push past the flames and tried to get to her but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I tried to get into that room, I just wasn’t able to.’’
Cooke ran to the other children’s bedroom. He shook awake Brayden, 8, and Lucas, 6, telling them to get out, before grabbing 2-year-old Brianna and heading outside.
It was there he realised Brayden was still inside, so he and a neighbour went back in.
‘‘The flames, the smoke and the heat was so intense . . . I tried. Deep down I knew it was too late for Arianna but as a parent you have still got to be able to protect your children, you have got to check. I could not see Brayden so they ended up dragging me out of the house.’’
Despite saving two children’s lives, Cooke rejects any praise. ‘‘I don’t feel like a hero.’’
Cooke said he had been unable to sleep since, as each time he closed his eyes he was back in the house.
‘‘I don’t want to relive that nightmare every time.’’
Cooke described Arianna as his ‘‘baby girl’’ and Brayden as a sweet boy with ‘‘the purest heart’’. Cooke’s 12-year-old son, Drew, was not coping after his sister’s death.
He wanted to thank the people who helped the family, including neighbours, first responders, Christchurch Hospital staff and those who donated money via a Givealittle page.
‘‘It is overwhelming the support we have got,’’ he said.
Brayden’s father, Shaun Gibson, also thanked emergency services and those who sent their love to the family.
‘‘It shows how our kids have impacted other people as well.
‘‘It is mind boggling; it is really nice to feel all the support.’’
He last saw his son about three weeks ago before he moved to Wellington, with the pair playing video games together.
‘‘It was a happy day. When he walked out the door he said bye, gave me a hug and a kiss.’’