Musgrave mother shares her ordeal after house fire

“IF he didn’t open the door, I would be dead. My son saved my life.”

These are the words of Tarryn Dunkley, who has called her son, Jaydon a hero after the 15-year-old freed her as their house went up in flames. Fire broke out at the Windmill Road home at about 09:00 on Sunday, March 27. Flames rapidly spread through the roof, destroying the entire structure.

“We were the only two people in the house. I woke up in a cotton ball of smoke. I couldn’t see or find my way out of the room. I couldn’t breathe. I was completely disorientated. I still can’t put the time line together in my mind,” recounted the mother who escaped the blaze with serious burns on her face, arm, hand and back.

Tarryn was trapped in her bedroom after the door warped in the heat.

“I thought I was in a bad dream. I couldn’t get out. I just started banging on whatever surface I could find. I thought I was banging on the bedroom door, but it might have been the cupboard door. Luckily my son was there – he came running. Both my room and my son’s room are lined with big book shelves. Once the books caught alight the fire spread quickly,” she said.

Jaydon saves the day

Jaydon said he woke up smelling smoke, hearing his mother shouting for help.
“I jumped out of bed and ran to her door. It was jammed. I was pushing on the door and eventually we got it open. I grabbed a jug of water and threw it on the flames, but it didn’t do anything, so we ran out only to realise the front door was locked,” he said.

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The youngster ran back to the kitchen to get the keys.
“By that time I couldn’t’ see anything, the kitchen was black with smoke – this was about two minutes after I woke up,” he said.

Jaydon managed to open the garage door and the pair ran out the house, where he flagged down a passing motorist to call an ambulance. Tarryn said her son also helped her as she grappled with a fire extinguisher.
“Jaydon didn’t panic he looked at the diagram and got the fire extinguisher to work. He has Asperger Syndrome (AS) and when he focuses his attention on something, he really focuses. He’s an amazing child,” she said.

‘I thought we would be homeless’

Tarryn, said she, Jaydon and her partner, Rick Slöther have been staying with her father.
“My business was hit hard during Covid-19 and we have been trying to rebuild our lives. We were so grateful to be staying with my father to get ourselves back on our feet,” she said.

While they have lost everything in the blaze, Tarryn has been overwhelmed by the kindness of the community.
“My first thought was that we would be homeless and land up on the streets. We have been overwhelmed by kindness. I don’t know any other place that would be so kind as the Durban community has been. We received care pack – even razors – things you wouldn’t think of,” she said.

Tarryn also expressed her gratitude to Sica’s Guest House where she and her family are staying free of charge. Hailing from Johannesburg, Tarryn and her son moved to Durban in 2011 while Rick followed in 2013.

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A long road ahead

While she is grateful to be alive, Tarryn has a long road ahead of her. Initially diagnosed with second degree burns, she said doctors have reassess her injuries.
“The doctors confirmed on Wednesday (last week) that the burns are third degree burns. I have six months of occupational therapy ahead of me. I’m an artist and my right hand was badly burnt. It’s very sore,” she said.

While the majority of their possessions were burnt and destroyed, her father, Kevin Dunkley, said the family is salvaging what they can from the wreckage.
“Forensic report said it was an electrical fault, which is typical for houses on the Berea that over 50 years old. Workers are going through the rubble and when they find something they think we might want to keep they set it aside. A set of keys were found, which we hadn’t even thought of, but we have not salvaged anything special so far,” said Kevin.