By Louise Hobson, BBC Radio Tees
BBC
A mum has told how she found out her family had lost everything in a devastating blast, which left her neighbour in hospital and his dog dead.
Grace Porter and her two daughters were not at home when the explosion destroyed the next-door property in Willington, County Durham, during the early hours of Monday.
The family, who were due to move that very day, lost all their possessions, and have been left to deal with the shock.
Durham Police is investigating the cause of the blast in Coronation Terrace, which is still unknown.
A man in his 40s was taken to hospital. Police described his condition in the days after the blast as “critical”.
“It’s so harrowing that our lovely neighbour was in there with his dog, and now this is the aftermath,” Ms Porter said.
The family, she said, had a “tough few years” and that house was their temporary accommodation, which she had worked hard to make homely for herself and girls.
‘Several missed calls’
“I feel like I’m delirious,” the 34-year-old added.
“We’ve had a tough few years as it is and then this – and it’s kind of one of those things where you think ‘no way, that can’t happen. How can this family go through all this sort of stuff, and then something to this extent [happens]’.
“I have no choice but to rely on humour and my friends and family and everybody that’s helped support us to just try and get us through, because one minute I’m laughing and the next minute I’m crying.”
Ms Porter said it had been “by sheer coincidence” she was not at home at the time, and her children were with their father.
“I’m just in utter shock that I didn’t stay home that night and then in the early hours of the morning, obviously, the most horrific thing has happened and sadly our neighbour’s in hospital,” she added.
She said she woke up to several missed calls from the police and saw a headline saying there had been an explosion in her street.
“I just panicked and jumped in the car and came straight through and just every service was here, all the people were out, it was all cordoned off and then I saw the devastation of all three houses.”
She described seeing glass and debris everywhere, electrical cables in the garden, as well as personal belongings scattered about.
Ms Porter said she had not yet told her children what happened.
“I’m thinking, how I’m going to tell my two little girls, not only that their neighbour’s poorly, but the dog’s died – we were so friendly with them – and we’ve lost everything in that house.”
‘Immensely grateful’
She said the community has been beside her and her daughters every step of the way.
Her sister, Stacy, set up a fundraising page to help support the family, which has reached almost £3,000.
Ms Porter said people from all over the region had been in touch with offers of help, bags of clothes for the children, shoes and more.
“It makes you realise that people have such big hearts and I’m immensely grateful,” she added.
“And when we are back on our feet I will give as much back as I can, to help other people. But for now, those people are keeping us going.”
