An Illinois mom who lost all three of her children in a house fire has revealed they spent their final moments crying out for her.
Josephine Beauchane has been left stricken by the deaths of her one-year-old son Xander and two-year-old twins, Jayden and Kayden.
The tots died after a massive fire broke out at their grandmother’s house in Carpentersville on Sunday.
‘They were crying for mama and trying to find out where mama was, and mama was racing over here to find out if they were okay,’ Beauchane told Fox8 Live.
‘These were my kids, my life, my story, and now they’re gone.’
Xander and Jayden perished in the blaze, while Kayden died later in the hospital.
‘I felt his heart stop,’ Beauchane added. ‘I watched as he took his last breath, and had to sit there and listen as the doctors told me they wouldn’t be able to save him anymore.’
The fire, which broke out in the basement, was so strong it had engulfed the home by the time firefighters arrived.
The boys’ grandmother tried desperately to save them, but was overcome by thick smoke.
‘She tried so hard to save those kids,’ their great-grandmother Christina Castillo said.
‘She kept running into the house trying to find those children.
‘She could not find them, the smoke was too strong.’
Their grandmother is expected to recover, but has lost her home as well as her grandchildren.
‘Don’t leave without saying goodbye because you won’t know if it’s your last time, Beauchane said.
A friend of the family has since set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the boys’ funerals.
‘It’s never easy losing your children, and it’s a pain that will never ease,’ Daphney Lewis said. ‘Jayden, Kayden and Xander will be greatly missed.
‘I am asking all with hearts to give what they can to help these young parents with proper burial arrangements for their three precious baby boys.’
A memorial which has been set up for the brothers has attracted dozens of tributes and gifts.
The fire service said that the cause of the blaze is under investigation and will take time to determine.
‘Upon arrival, the crews had fire coming out of all four windows of the building here,’ Carpentersville Fire Chief William Anaszewicz told Cafe Mom.
‘So, their immediate response was to try to put the fire out, and then initiate the searches, then made it in through the front door, and were able to take two of the older victims out, and then conducted the searches in the lower level, where the children were reported.’