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Tragic Update to Case of Heroic Son Going Back Inside Burning Home for Elderly Mom

LIBERTY COUNTY, TX- When fire quickly spread throughout an old wood frame house during the night of October 10, a Dayton man safely escaped, but was horrified to realize his elderly mother hadn’t made it out. Rob Flurry then went back into the inferno and guided his dementia-stricken mother, Joann Shipman, to safety. Unfortunately, both were critically injured with burns and suffered from severe smoke inhalation.

Life Flight transported 61-year-old Flurry and 81-year-old Shipman to a Houston hospital, where both were placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Flurry remains in a medically induced coma, but Shipman has died.

As stated in the original post, after Shipman’s dementia progressed, Flurry put his life on hold to return home and care for Shipman. The loving son wanted to ensure she had proper care, and could live out her days her own home- the home that had been in their family for generations. That home was reduced to rubble, and all of their belongings were lost, along with their two dogs and their older model vehicles.

Flurry, a blacksmith, will wake to the news that his mother has died, and everything he had is gone. The road to recovery will be long and painful, not to mention expensive. Flurry’s son, Terry, has been trying to handle things and he set up a GoFundMe to help his father and grandmother. Naturally, he was trying to be optimistic and praying has dad and the family matriarch would wake, and eventually be able to return to the family. Now he has to bury his grandmother.

Anyone who would like to help can visit the family’s GoFundMe page. Any amount will help, and all prayers are appreciated.

 

(Original post)

Son Nearly Dies Saving Elderly Mom, Generations-Old Home Destroyed

LIBERTY COUNTY, TX- An October 10 house fire has left an old Dayton family without their ancestral home, and with two of them struggling to survive. The nighttime fire likely would have claimed the life of 81-year-old family matriarch, Joann Shipman, if not for her 61-year-old son, Rob Flurry. He risked his own life to save her, and both sustained serious burns and life-threatening smoke inhalation. The mother and son were flown by air ambulance to the Texas Medical Center, where they remain in ICU as of this posting.

The home, on CR 607, has been in the family for generations and was completely lost, along with two beloved dogs, their vehicles, and everything they owned.

The elderly Shipman lives on a fixed income, and suffers from dementia.  Her heroic son, a hardworking blacksmith, returned home to care for his aging mother several years ago. Flurry already suffered financially because he placed his mother’s needs first, and cared for her in her home, rather than placing her in a facility. They had little to spare prior to the catastrophic fire. Now, as they fight to survive and begin the slow and painful road to recovery, they will learn the financial devastation isn’t limited to having to replace absolutely everything they own- The medical bills will be astronomical.

Rob Flurry’s son and Joann Shipman’s grandson, Terry, has created a GoFundMe page to help his family.

Normally, MCPR has limited ability to say for sure if a GoFundMe is legitimate, but in this case, we guarantee it. We’ve known Rob Flurry for nearly 40 years, covered the devastating fire, and are in touch with the extended family.

Any help will be appreciated, as the need will be enormous. To view the GoFundMe page created by Flurry’s son (Shipman’s grandson), click here

To view on-scene video of the devastating fire, click here.

Please share this post. Anyone who’s had a parent no longer to care for themselves knows how heartbreak that causes, without any extenuating circumstances. Most of us justify placing them in some facility, and many of us have no choice but to make that painful decision.

Rob Flurry paused his life so his mother could stay where she spent her life, keeping near the memories of her past and those who’d gone before her, enabling her to feel as comfortable as possible at home as she declined. Now that beautiful effort has been ended by a freak accident and horrific fire that reduced the life she knew to a charred pile of rubble. If you can’t donate, it costs nothing to share.

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