An Illinois family lost everything in a devastating house fire just hours before the head of the household succumbed to cancer.
The Russo family narrowly escaped their Poplar Grove home as it was destroyed in a sudden inferno in the early hours on Tuesday morning.
‘[I] slammed the door shut, came running in the house screaming for the kids to get out and got my husband in the wheelchair and was able to get him out and across the street with some help from some neighbors,’ mother Carli Russo told WIFR.
Their home burned to an unrecognizable scene of rubble and charred remnants.
‘[I] was up for six hours just watching it burn,’ Carli continued. ‘Right now they’re telling us it’s a complete loss.’
The fire had raged from the garage before it set the whole home alight causing extensive damage, which firefighters said will make finding the cause difficult, the outlet reported.
But a far more devastating loss was to come. The next morning Carli’s husband John – the father of the couple’s two children – died of small cell lung cancer aged just 49.
‘He would do anything for anybody,’ his wife, Carli, said.
John had only gone to the emergency room on April 30 with stomach pains when they received his devastating terminal cancer diagnosis.
‘It was around four in the afternoon and by the end of the night, we were told he had cancer,’ Carli recalled.
‘It was so fast-growing, there was nothing they could do,’ she added.
Following the fire, John and his family, including his two children, 14-year-old Payton and 10-year-old JJ, moved into a hotel room.
Before John’s passing, Carli said: ‘Slowly he’s deteriorating, and it’s very hard for us to watch.’
‘We’re definitely having a lot more quality time we did before.’
John’s cancer progressed quickly and had spread to his colon, according to a GoFundMe created by a coworker.
‘Known for his steady work ethic, warm smile, and unwavering support for those around him, John now finds himself in the toughest battle of his life,’ Ryan Guarino wrote.
‘John’s world revolves around his wife and children. Whether he was at a softball game for his daughter, fixing his project car, or lending a hand to a neighbor, John has always been the one people could count on.’
Another GoFundMe was created by Carli’s sister, Kelsey Mueller, to help support the Russo family rebuild their life without John, which has, as of Thursday afternoon, raised more than $22,500.
‘It’s overwhelming to see all the support we’ve gotten,’ Carli told the outlet.
‘I don’t know what else I could do. I have to keep making things ok for them,’ she added, gesturing to her two young children.