Cape Breton seniors who lost long-time home in fire overwhelmed by community support
A Cape Breton couple is counting their blessings after making it out of their long-time home that was destroyed by fire on Monday.
On Tuesday, Russell and Marie Mauger were in their neighbour's kitchen surrounded by family and friends.
Less than 24 hours earlier, they had narrowly escaped their burning home.
"I never got much sleep last night because when I closed my eyes, I would see my house. But we're all out, we're safe. That's good enough. I'm thankful," said Marie.
The couple had lived in the home on Tower Road for 40 years. When it burned to the ground Monday morning, mementoes from 64 years of marriage were lost within minutes.
"Pictures of the kids, my parents, his [Russell's] parents, my grandparents' pictures. All gone," said Marie, who added that all their wedding photos were also lost.
A GoFundMe page has been started to help the couple. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, it had already raised more than $4,400.
"They knew we were left with nothing but what we had on our backs," said Russell.
Already, Russell has a new pair of glasses and says a pair of reading glasses are on the way for his wife after a local optometrist saw their story and wanted to help.
Some other basic essentials have also been donated.
"Food and clothing, jackets and pants," said Russell. "Neighbours come, you know, [with] boxes of clothes. Mostly clothes."
"Everything is gone," said Marie. "But we're alive. That's it. They could have had a double funeral."
The Maugers say they're not normally comfortable accepting help from people. However, in this case, they didn't have much of a choice.
"Oh, God almighty, [I] can't thank them enough," said Russell.
The couple's home used to be where the family would gather for a big holiday get together. Now, they'll have to start a new tradition this year.
Still, Russell and Marie are counting their blessings and have a message for those who have lent a hand so far.
"I wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Anybody that gave us anything or helped us, you know, Merry Christmas to everybody," said Russell.
The couple says they do have insurance, which will help ease some of the financial burden.
There's still no official word on the cause of the fire.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.