An Aussie father says he couldn’t be prouder of his 4-year-old son after he used his own tiny frame to try to shield his younger siblings from a fire that ripped through a shed at their family home.
Ashlynn, 18 months, and 3-year-old Saige McGregor died in Sunday’s blaze in Geelong and their older siblings Isaac, 4, and Mavis, 6, are in critical condition in hospital.
Their father Kane McGregor told media that Mavis was due for surgery and her prognosis was good, but her brother faced a much harder road.
“Isaac not so much. He was stable and now his kidney and liver are showing signs of failure. He had third degree (burns) to 82 per cent of his body,” McGregor said.
The devastated dad said his son was due for surgery but doctors have advised that he not go through it because he “probably won’t make it”.
Mavis, 6, Saige, 3, Ashlynn, 18 months, Isaac, 4.
“Worst 36 hours of my life, absolutely broken-hearted having to let go of my 2 youngest babies,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Only thing keeping me together is holding on to and fighting for my other two, come on Mavis and Isaac you are both so strong and way too stubborn to give in so keep fighting the winning fight.
The children were at home with their mother Jasmine Beck, and McGregor said they must have snuck outside to play in the shed.
He said his partner was distraught after finding the shed ablaze and having to pull her children out while trying to extinguish the fire.
“I got them up, dressed, showered and fed them as I was leaving, Isaac ran up to give me a cuddle and a kiss,” McGregor said of his final moments with his kids before he left to drive to Melbourne on the fateful morning.
“An hour later, I get the phone call.”
A devastated Kane McGregor speaks to media. Photo / 7News
Describing him as “bravest and strongest kid” he knows, McGregor told media outside the hospital that Isaac huddled over his two younger siblings as flames engulfed the small shed.
He revealed that once Jasmine reached the children she grabbed Mavis first before finding Isaac protecting the two little ones.
“What 4-year-old huddles over their two little siblings? He stayed there until he died himself. They revived him and flew him here.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of him.”
Four-year-old Isaac suffered third-degree burns to 82 per cent of his body.
A GoFundMe page organised to raise funds for the family described Saige and Ashlynn as “beautiful angels” to their siblings.
“This family will never be the same without these children in their lives,” page organiser Daina Leech wrote.
“I’m hoping to help this family ease the financial cost of laying those beautiful babies to rest, as this is such an unimaginable situation for any parent to go through.”
The children’s uncle Anthony McGregor told The Age that Beck was struggling to cope.
“She’s destroyed,” he said.
“She’s not handling herself. She’s trying to be the best mum she can be right now and be there to support her children who are suffering.”
Police have described the situation as a “worst-case scenario” but are treating the fire as non-suspicious.
