Christchurch earthquake: Pregnant and homeless

Pregnant Renee Rushton, husband Levi and their and two children are having to leave their home for a holiday park after the Christchurch earthquake. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Have you been affected by the earthquake?
Send us your photos and video.

A week after the earthquake that forced her from her home, a bewildered and pregnant Renee Rushton is living in a Christchurch holiday park cabin.

She and husband Levi Rushton moved into their rented Shirley home less than three weeks before the quake, wanting a bigger home for their family.

But a quake of more than 7 on the Richter scale destroyed their plans.

Stuck on the front window of the house is a label which reads "restricted use". With every aftershock the cracks in the house and a long retaining wall get bigger.

Now the couple are homeless and, with their third child due in November, they are desperate. With nowhere else to go, the family, including 4-year-old son Ordane and daughter Nation, 14 months, are hunkered down at the holiday park.

"The kids are definitely shaken up. Nation has had a lot of diarrhoea and Ordane isn't himself. He's really clingy," Renee, 28, says.

"We lost just about everything. We had a buggy and a new cot and they're both damaged. Most of our stuff is damaged, but that's all we've got."

Renee, who is eight months' pregnant, said the quake had given her a few "twinges".

"Definitely a few uncomfortable niggles. My midwife said to rest up but not until we've moved everything. And it's hard to relax when we don't have a homeand we're worried."

The aftershocks are not helping. "I'm constantly on edge. I haven't slept properly since the earthquake. I'm anxious about whether the shocks are another earthquake."

The couple moved all of their furniture - much of it damaged in the quake - into storage on Thursday. But before he got to his own house Levi, 33, helped a furniture removal company shift items from about 40 other houses, braving damaged walls and ceilings to make sure other people's prized possessions were saved.

"I went to one house and the guy was just in tears. He didn't know how he was going to get in there. We ended up going in and getting everything out for him."

With the series of aftershocks far from over, Renee does not know when she will feel safe again. With each jolt she grabs her children and the family dog and runs out of the cabin.

"It's little old safe Christchurch, you never expect this to happen. They have to rebuild buildings, but we have to rebuild our lives."