BUILDING BACK
Our home was destroyed in gas blast which left me fighting for life… but neighbours spent £50k on DIY SOS-style rescue
A FAMILY whose home was destroyed in a gas blast have have their property "miraculously" rebuilt after kind neighbours launched a DIY-SOS style rescue.
Jess Williams, 34, survived the blast only to discover the family had no home insurance when the enormous explosion ripped through her home in Neath, South Wales.
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However, helpful neighbours have joined forces to help rebuild the charred property with an estimated £50,000 construction.
The miraculous turn around means the family will likely be able to move back in in time for Christmas.
Jessica spent three months in hospital being treated for a punctured lung, several broken ribs and failing kidneys following the explosion.
Her injuries meant that over the last four months, the mum has had to learn how to walk and talk again.
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"Our home had to be completely rebuilt from scratch after being reduced to no more than a pile of rubble. We could not have done it without so many wonderful people," Jessica said.
"We've been overwhelmed with the kindness of our community and complete strangers who have given their time and money completely free.
"When I think back to that terrible day three years ago, I know how lucky we are to even be alive. It feels so incredibly emotional to know that we are going to be moving back into our home at last."
Terrified neighbours scrambled to save the family from the rubble - where Jessica was trapped under a large fridge while her young sons Reuben, eight, and Elliot, five were screaming for help.
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The boys were airlifted to Southmead Hospital in Bristol where they spent three weeks being treated for serious injuries.
The explosion in June 2020 was suspected to be caused by a leak from an LPG bottle which was ignited when Jess turned on the family cooker.
Jessica revealed the family had intended to renew their home insurance before the blaze.
She said: "On top of everything we had had no house insurance.
"We'd cancelled the policy because Michael said we'd been paying too much and we could get a better deal. But we hadn't got round to setting it up.
"We had lost absolutely everything we owned materially.
"I thought of the sentimental things that we would never get back. The Memory boxes I'd made for the children of their birth things, their first photographs and they had lost every single one of their toys.
Jessica has now returned to work as a pre-school leader in the same school where her boys attend.
She said: "I did wonder if our house being rebuilt was ever going to happen but now here we are.
"The worst thing that has every happened to us has shown us what wonderful people are out there. It's changed my outlook on life completely.
"Our physical scars are healing well but the emotional ones will take longer. I still have to moisturise my scars every day. The boys have had surgeries and may need more in the future as they grow but for now everything is good.
"There are no words to really comprehend how grateful we are to all the people who have made it possible for us. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to them all."
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