Fundraiser set up after family loses everything in Angmering house fire

The blaze broke out on the first floor of the property in Wilkinson Close, Angmering, on Thursday – read more here.

Kane Lovegrove, aged 12, was at home with his mother Shelley Giddings when the fire started.

His great-aunt, Hayley Baxter, said Kane was a carer to his mother, who was quite severely disabled after suffering a series of strokes back in 2012.

Kane had just finished feeding his dog Willow and her two puppies, who had been born at the weekend, when the fire alarm went off.

He went out onto the landing and saw the fire, which he tried to put out himself after warning his mother, who was in the bathroom.

Hayley praised Kane for staying calm and calling Shelley’s partner, Bryan Harvey. “Kane is a little hero,” she said.

Bryan rushed home from work and bravely ran into the property to try to save Shelley, suffering ‘serious burns’ in the process.

Fortunately a telecare alarm system had automatically alerted the fire service, who arrived ‘pretty quickly’ and were able to save both Bryan and Shelley.

Shelley suffered smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning and remains in hospital, but will hopefully be discharged next week.

Bryan suffered severe burns to his hands, nose and head and is continuing to receive outpatient treatment at the Queen Victoria Hospital.

Firefighters were able to save one of the puppies, though sadly the family’s dog and other puppy died in the fire.

The surviving puppy is currently being nursed back to health and hand-fed every two hours by Bryan’s sister, who is thinking of naming it Phoenix.

Hayley said Kane, who has been staying with her in Horsham since the fire, was ‘traumatised’ and unable to sleep.

They have not been allowed back inside the property, but Hayley fears that between the fire damage, the smoke damage and the water damage, little will be salvageable from inside.

“I’ve looked through the downstairs window and there was two inches of water in there,” she said.

It means Kane, who had just celebrated his 12th birthday on June 4, may have lost his presents, including the laptop that Hayley had bought him.

With the help of a friend, Hayley set up the fundraiser which has raised £2,295 for the family so far.

“People have been amazing,” Hayley said. “People have donated clothes for him.
“It makes me cry, the generosity of people we’ve not even met.

“I’m quite flabbergasted actually.

“People are giving so much when people don’t have much at the moment.”

She said the funds would go towards getting them set up again with essentials including bedding and clothes.

Hayley said the incident highlighted the importance of having a smoke alarm.

She said of the fire service: “If they hadn’t have got there when they did, I don’t think [Shelley] would have survived,”

“It was a really close call.”

To donate to the fundraising page, click here.

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