A young boy is in critical condition after trying to save his younger siblings from a Corio shed fire.
Four siblings were caught in a shed fire on an Officer Court property after 10.30am on Sunday, October 23, which caused the death of Ashlynn, 18 months, and Saige, 3.
The two other kids, four-year-old Issac and six-year-old Mavis were airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital, where they remain in critical condition.
Family cousin Daina Leech started a GoFundMe following the tragedy. She said the children had been staying with their mother when the incident occurred and that neighbours alerted her to the fire.
“The mother says that she thought the kids were just playing in the bedroom at the time,” she said.
“Then the neighbours came over to help because they had seen the flames happening and…they realised that the babies were all inside the shed while it was on fire.
“When they got the door open and were trying to get all of the children out, they found the two youngest ones were already gone.”
Ms Leech said Issac was found trying to protect his two younger siblings, who were found dead on the scene, while sister Mavis was trying to find a way out of the shed.
“They’re all so little, they just didn’t understand what was going on,” she said.
“Mavis was trying to get the door open, and Isaac was standing there trying to help the babies, but the babies were already gone.
“He ended up with, I think it was, 84 per cent of his body burnt off because he was just standing there trying to help the babies.”
Ms Leech said the four-year-old was currently undergoing major surgeries, and there was a big possibility that he may suffer from life-long injuries and require more surgery if he pulled through.
She also said Mavis was not “out of the woods yet” and will require further surgeries.
Ms Leech said the money from the GoFundMe page would go towards helping the family during this challenging time with medical and funeral costs.
“I wouldn’t say they’re a less fortunate family, but they definitely aren’t fortunate,” she said.
“They struggle with funds like most people do, and this is really hard for them, considering they’ve lost two children.
“It’s just helping with the recovery funds and helping with the cost of the funeral because they’re just little babies, they deserve a beautiful send off.”
Ms Leech’s GoFundMe page has already reached more than $12,000 as of 4pm Monday, October 23, since it was started on Sunday, October 22, and people can visit gofund.me/31df302c to donate.
“I’m really hoping for all of the kind hearts to donate what they can, and we’d be really appreciative if any donations,” she said.
Detectives from the Arson and Explosives Squad are investigating the incident and are continuing to treat it as non-suspicious.
