Fundraiser launched to help family of single mum-of-two whose Craigentinny home was destroyed after thundersnow set it ablaze

A fundraiser has been set up to help a family in Craigentinny whose home was destroyed earlier this month when thundersnow shook the Capital.

Kerry and her sons' home was destroyed earlier this month

While the weather phenomenon caused excitement amongst many Edinburgh residents it was a nightmare come true for a Kerry Quinn’s family when lightning struck their home and set it ablaze, destroying not only their home but all of their possessions just weeks before Christmas.

On December 5 loud claps of thunder and flashes of lightning woke the Capital for the second night in a row caused by the rare winter storm which occurs when the air closest to the ground is warm enough to rise and form a thunderstorm, but still cool enough that it’s able to freeze into snow.

Single mum Kerry’s home on Craigentinny’s Bryce Avenue - which she shares with her two sons Keiran and Lewis – was set alight after a lightning bolt crashed through Keiran’s bedroom, sparking a dramatic blaze.

The repairs are expected to take more than a year to complete

Miraculously, Kerry had been unable to sleep that night and rushed her son, who is a student at Portobello High School, out to safety as quickly as she could.

Her other son Lewis had not been home that night, and his bedroom was the most damaged.

Neighbours claim firefighters later told Kerry no one could have survived the blaze if she had been asleep at the time.

Thundersnow first hit Edinburgh the night before with many residents being awoken by the loud claps at around 5am which some believed were an explosion.

Now, concerned neighbours have set up a JustGiving page to help the family get essentials such as clothes, food and Christmas gifts as the help from insurers is not likely to come for some time yet.

Neighbour Lindsay Drybrough said: “I live four doors down from the house and it was extremely traumatic watching the fire, like some from a horror movie and now the inside is even worse. Like nothing I've ever experienced before. Horrific.

“Myself along with other neighbours are extremely concerned for Kerry, a single mum-of-two, who owns the house. It has been completely destroyed and she has lost everything, her house and possessions, just before Christmas.”

The fundraiser currently has a target of £2000 which has already surpassed the £1000 point thanks to the generosity of neighbours and others who are concerned about the family.

Neighbour and fundraiser organiser Kevin McHardy added: “She [Kerry] has been left homeless and all their personal belongings have been lost.

“We as caring neighbours are looking to the public to donate anything you can afford to allow them to at least get through Christmas and to be able to look forward to 2021 and ease the burden of this terrible tragedy.”

“As fire completely engulfed the house, the damage is expected to take more than a year to repair and while the family are to move into a rental house, they currently have no possessions to fill it with.”

Those who can and wish to donate to help Kerry and her family can donate on the JustGiving page.

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