Early in the morning on 11/21/14, John and Mary Beth Cole of Wolfeboro, NH were awakened by the barking their dog, Miss Kitty. Their house was on fire. John ran to the room where the fire had started, and where Beth was asleep. He tried to put he fire out and when he realized it was out of control, he yelled for Beth to get out.
John managed to get out thru their one and only door. He believed Beth was right behind him. She was, until she started looking for their smaller dog, Bunny. She got trapped in the house, and yelled for John, who ran back in through a wall of fire and after some disoriented searching, managed to drag her out. Beth sustained burns over 90% of her body, with which she shielded their small dog.
The fire destroyed their home, and all of Beth's inventory. You can see the link to the news story here:http://www.wmur.com/news/wolfeboro-woman-hospitalized-with-serious-burns
Beth is currently being treated at Mass General Hospital. She has had the first of several skin graft surgeries. She remains on a respirator, and is in stable, but guarded condition.
John is staying in Boston to be close to Beth, and is holding up as best he can.
This couple has lost EVERYTHING they own. In one second, their entire world was turned upside down. Can you even imagine this happening to you? Loosing your health, your home, your art? Take a moment and let it sink in. Hard to breathe? It was for me when I thought about this.
I live in a small town, as do John and Beth. But my community is vast. You are my community and it is time to pull together to help this family. You may not have a lot to spare but I bet you have $10. If everyone who reads this donates $10, or more if you can, we can help the Coles get back on their feet. They have a long, hard road ahead of them but you can help. We should help each other.
Please send them your love, your good thoughts, your positive energy. But right now, right this minute, go to this site and send them some money.http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/help-john-beth-recover-from-losing-their-home-in-a-fire-/268454
I will keep you posted as to Beth's progress. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Lisa Cutler
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Donated what I could, while having one of my pups right besides me, thinking that I too would most likely run into a burning house to rescue them. But I sure hope I will never be tested on that.
Update from Lisa:
As of 12/18 Beth is moving into rehab where she will remain for 2-4 weeks. She is making a remarkable recovery. Also of note, Kitty the rescue dog who rescued her rescuers landed in the Vet hospital last week. She underwent emergency surgery and an anonymous animal lover in NH paid the bill. The Coles have been overwhelmed by everyone's generosity but there is still a long road ahead to rebuild their lives and their livelihood. Any and all donations, no matter how small, are gratefully appreciated.
I finished my 2014 season at a show in Salem, NH this past weekend, and while watching TV I had WMUR, the Manchester station on the TV.
They did a story about the Coles and a company in Mass is giving 100% of their online sales to the Coles. Here's their website:
http://www.walkyourdogwithlove.com/cole2014/ It's simple. You buy something for your dog, the Coles get the money.
Also Castleberry Fairs will be sending out an email blast to all their exhibitors.
Chris, thanks for sharing this info. The letter from Castleberry went out today and seems to have generated a lot of support. If you need to have your faith in humanity restored, go to http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/help-john-beth-recover-fro... and just read some of the lovely things written by complete strangers. And make a little donation yourself while you're there!
Everyone reading this please "share" it on your FB pages -- costs you nothing and helps immeasurably.
Charlie Dooley from Craftproducers here in Vermont also sent out an email to every exhibitor in his file. A donation will be coming from my wife and me.
I am SO SORRY for your loss & especially Beths' health~I am sure this will be a long tough road for you & I wish the best for Beth in her recovery.
This really touches home when I read this, as I also lost my home with everything in it to fire in 1999. My possessions were replaced, but it was tough to put a price on all the time I spent in my finished product, as well as the Artwork from Artists that are no longer with us. Pictures, & items that could never be replaced. (the days before everyone backed up their pictures on computers).
I want to tell you my story, so you can be "aware" of what happened to me, so it doesn't happen to you after the fire. A few years after the fire, I was doing art shows out of state weekly, & whenever I went home, my breathing was bad, & I felt "sick." I didn't know WHY I would always get "sick" when I went home, so I was talking to a customer who was with her husband (who happened to be a home builder). He said "You probably have mold." Mold...how could I? I had replacement insurance of course, & everything was REPLACED~from flooring, to roof, & everything in between!
The Builder told me to hire a Certified Industrial Hygentist, & right away my beautiful home was considered "uninhabitable" by my city because my little crawl space wasn't cleaned by the rehab. co & all the toxic mold sphores went throughout my home contaminating EVERYTHING.
It was TOO LATE to sue the rehab. Co. so I again lost everything, but this time, my insurance company could not help because it was the fault of the rehab. co. Had I known the dangers of molds after a fire, (especially against your HEALTH) & that you CANNOT clean items, (except glass or hardwood glossy~no fibers or electronics either) I would have had my home inspected RIGHT after the rehab. which is why I am writing this to you...(as well as my best wishes to you & Beth). It's a good idea, EVEN IF the crawl space WAS completed).
IF you lost your WHOLE house, you shouldn't have a mold problem. (I lost most of mine). I don't want this to happen to you or anyone else after a fire. There is a ton of water in trying to put OUT a fire & Mold is extremely deadly.
I am sure that you are now concentrating on Beths' health~I was luckier than you~I & my 2 wiener dogs got out healthy. Cerf did help me some, & it was greatly appreciated, but of course they can only do so much. It sounds like you & I were blessed that our dogs alarmed us. Give my best to Beth, You, (& your precious "Miss Kitty").
Thank you, Kathleen, for sharing this story. I had no idea about this mold issue.
I hope you both are getting better. Sorry to hear this. Donation on its way.
Someone should tell John to contact CERF and see what they can do to help. They should be able to provide some help.
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