By Sheree Hoddinett
For Ben and Laura Clark, Thursday August 11 is a day they won’t ever forget. It was the day they received the devastating news that their Beachmere home was on fire. The news was only going to get worse from there. Unable to have children of their own, the duo had a beautiful fur-family they treasured more than anything else in this world. The eldest of their fur brood, Shadow, sadly lost his life in the fire, along with their pet bird, Bandit. Their other two dogs Gizmo and Milo required vet treatment and are still recovering, both physically and emotionally, from the fire that took their mate.
The Beachmere couple had only just celebrated their wedding anniversary days before the blaze that took everything. They were out at the shops when Ben received the phone call that changed their lives in an instant. Their first thought was for their animals who were inside at the time.
“We didn’t care about the house, the dogs were in the house and we need to get back,” Ben said about what was going through their minds. “The police were able to track us down because of the rego from one of my cars that was parked at the house. They were asking all these questions and I thought maybe the car had been stolen but then they said they were responding to a house fire. I said mate, there’s dogs in the house!”
“I was frantically trying to think of anyone close by that I knew that could get down there and try to get them out before we got there,” Laura added.
While Shadow and Bandit had already passed away, Gizmo was rushed to the nearest vet by police as he was having trouble breathing and Milo also required treatment for some injuries.
“They pulled Gizmo out unconscious and barely breathing,” Laura said. “The three ladies from the police beat based in Beachmere actually raced him up to the vets. They have checked in with us since the fire too and we are really grateful for what they have done for us.”
Already deeply feeling the loss of her boy of 17 years, Laura said Shadow was cremated and farewelled with a little service at Pets in Peace so they could say goodbye but losing him has been extremely hard on the other two dogs.
“Milo kept trying to wake him up,” Ben said. “That was heart wrenching to watch. He’s been in pain and pretty anxious as well. It’s been tough.”
Although severely damaged in what is believed to have been an electrical fire which started behind the television, the couple managed to salvage a few things from the house. Unfortunately, the house will have to be torn down, but they plan to eventually rebuild again.
“We had done a lot of work on the house with renovations but we’ll just start again and rebuild,” Laura said. “It’s a long road ahead but we’ll manage.”
Laura said you don’t realise how much you miss, even the little things, until it’s no longer there. She said this is an opportunity to remind others to be aware of how easily it can happen to you.
“Just be vigilant with electrical goods in your house,” Laura said. “It can happen in the blink of an eye and you can lose everything. We were only gone not even an hour. You never think it will happen to you and then it does. I was standing in Costco and I realised my Cabbage Patch Doll that I had from when I was a kid was gone and I started bawling my eyes out. Things from my grandparents and Ben’s grandparents are gone and we can’t get that back.”
The couple have received tremendous support from family, friends and their respective workplaces, who allowed them to take the time they needed to try to regain some sense of normalcy in their lives again. They have been staying with friends in Kallangur and another friend also created a GoFundMe page to help Ben and Laura out as well.
“It was a little overwhelming,” Laura said. “We didn’t even know she had done it. I was going through the house and checked my phone where I discovered she had created the page. Some others in the community have set up an account at the vet for us as well. It’s hard but it’s nice that others are thinking of us.”
For now, it’s one day at a time and one step at a time as Ben and Laura learn to navigate a new path in their lives.
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