Published: Apr. 25, 2022 at 10:45 PM EDT|Updated: 9 hours ago
PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. (WTOC) - A fire displaced a family of eight leaving them with only the clothes on their backs.
It happened one week ago today in Port Wentworth.
“I’m definitely praying, fasting...I wish I could sow a seed, but I don’t have a seed to sow,” said Chasstity Rush, the homeowner.
Looking at what’s left of it, Rush said she remembered one minute the oven was self-cleaning....the next it was gone.
“My son came down calling my name ‘mom the house is smoky’. I said son, it happens all the time. He said, no it’s a fire in the oven,” said Rush.
Even after Rush and her neighbor’s efforts to save it, they had to get out before it was too late.
“It’s like it went down and came up worse,” she said. “I got out the house, got to the door...that’s when we heard the explosion. I don’t know if the whole oven blew up I can’t tell you.”
Five of her children lived in the home and she’s a caretaker for three extended family members who were also displaced. Rush said they were blessed to make it out, but she worked multiple jobs her whole life to see it all go away in minutes.
“This type of feeling...I’ve been through some things in my life, but this is a whole totally different feeling...a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone. It’s not about material things. It’s about you’ve worked so hard to get to where you’re at to see everything go away.”
She said they went from being all under one roof to making ends meet at a hotel while they play the waiting game with insurance.
“It got hard to not cry. It got hard to not want to eat and they [her family] constantly keep saying, ‘Hey Ms. Rush, you need to eat something or hey have you eaten already? We’re gonna be ok. We’re gonna get through this together.”
She may not know what tomorrow will bring, but she said she’s relying on prayer because she has no other choice.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time. I can’t tell you what’s gonna happen after Wednesday.”
The family said every little bit helps, including clothes, monetary donations and undergarments for the people she cares for.
There’s also a GoFundMe set-up on behalf of the family.
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