Monday 26 November 2012

Maternal Sacrifice: A Story of Love, Survival & Hope

 

It was too late to escape the house through the front door as flames roared across the hallway. Beauty shut the door of her bedroom, where she slept with her daughter Vanessa, then 7, and 4-year-old son Prince, to try and prevent the flames and smoke spreading towards them.
 She called the 119 Emergency Centre for help and screamed through wrought iron bars with all her might to wake her neighbours or draw the attention of any passers-by.


In five minutes, the fire swept through the room and she could feel the blazing heat on her back and arms as she wrapped herself around the children to protect them.
Firefighters, who arrived on the scene to see fire engulfing the whole house, say Beauty saved her two children through a 'maternal sacrifice' that left deep scars on her back.

Unfortunately, Vanessa was too big for Beauty to cover all of her body along with Prince. Her son only suffered burns on his hands, whereas nearly 70 percent of Vanessa’s body was damaged, including her arms, legs, head and chin.
Despite being covered by National Health Insurance, Beauty had to pay $44,220 won for the first hospital bill for her and Vanessa due to the severity of injuries.

The family lost nearly all of their assets and now lives in a basement half the size of their previous home in Itaewon city district of South Korea, but they have maintained a positive attitude.

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